Eminent Domain Report

Last night, the Riverside City Council approved the use of eminent domain to acquire the land necessary for the Five Points intersection project.  The project includes widening La Sierra and Hole avenues and Pierce Street, adding left turn lanes, and closing Bushnell Avenue off as a cul-de-sac at La Sierra.

According to the Press Enterprise article, "Riverside to spend $5 million on Five Points parcels," the City expects the acquisition to cost $5.4 million in order to compensate 15 property owners for land, furniture, and equipment.  Three landowners have reached deals, while the ...

The City of Corona has announced plans to extend its eminent domain authority in a downtown area which Corona feels is blighted.  The planned extension could impact businesses in the area, but Corona is carving out residential properties.  According to Riverside Press-Enterprise reporter Leslie Parrilla, in her November 16 article, "Public hearing on eminent domain area":

Hundreds of businesses are in the Main and Sixth Street area covered by the action. Not included would be residential properties within the Merged Redevelopment Project Areas.

Corona's current plans do not ...

With the completion of the I-5 widening project in Orange County north to the Orange County-Los Angeles County line, motorists cruised along the new, spacious lanes until they hit the County line, at which point an abrupt bottleneck brought them to a halt.  Now, the I-5 widening has commenced again, as the project moves north into Los Angeles. 

Across the county, the other major freeway connecting Orange and Los Angeles Counties, Interstate 405, could face a similar future.  The Orange County Transporation Authority has plans to widen the 405 freeway north from the 73 freeway to the ...

In 2003, the County of Riverside and the cities within western Riverside County formed the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (commonly known as the "RCA").  They delegated to the RCA the task of acquiring approximately 153,000 acres of privately owned property deemed necessary for habitat conservation under the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (the "MSHCP").

Many property owners whose land falls within the MSHCP conservation area find themselves with few options:  generally, they can either ...

According to the November 13, 2009, Desert Dispatch article "City seeks to reinstate eminent domain powers," the Barstow city council will decide next month whether the Barstow Redevelopment Agency's power of eminent domain should be reinstated after expiring last year.  The Redevelopment Agency believes the use of eminent domain may be necessary to remove blight in the area along East Main Street bordering the Marine Corps Logistics Base. 

The article reports that the Redevelopment Agency's chair, Tim Silva, believes eminent domain is a valuable tool, although he'd hate to ...

In 2006, what seemed to be a simple real estate transaction occurred:  the Jurupa Community Services District sold 4.3 acres of property it didn't need to Stadium Properties, which planned to re-zone the property and develop it with a mini-storage facility. 

The problem was that the Community Services Distrcit sold the property without first offering it to other public agencies, a requirement under California law (Government Code section 54222).  More problematic was that the Jurupa Area Recreation and Park District had purportedly been expressing interest in the property for ...

Why would this (or any other) blog need another post about Kelo v. City of New London.  It probably doesn't, which is why this will be short. 

But, for anyone who still wants more of the story behind Kelo, the soon-to-be-closed Pfizer facility, or the heated arguments they engender, the New YorK Times ran an extended piece, A Turning Point for Eminent Domain? on November 12 that contains a number of different, high-level views on the subject.  (It also contains plenty of less than high-level views, as the story had generated 55 comments within just a few hours of its posting.) 

And, for anyone ...

Just a few weeks ago, we reported on Tulare County's plans to condemn a number of properties to facilitate the widening of Road 80.  Now, Visalia Times-Delta reporter Valerie Gibbons reports that Tulare County is considereing condemnation for four additional parcels, this time to facilitate the widening of Road 108 (or Demaree Street) between Visalia and Tulare. 

The November 11 article, "Board of Supervisors moves to seize land for Road 108 project while still in property negotiations," explains that both the Road 80 and Road 108 projects raise the same concerns from property ...

As mentioned in the Whittier Daily News article from last week, "Two property owners protest La Mirada plans for Valley View underpass at BNSF Railroad," the City of La Mirada and the City of Santa Fe Springs have moved forward with filing condemnation actions to acquire the necessary property for the Valley View Grade Separation Project.  The project will result in an underpass at the BNSF Railroad crossing.

The City of Santa Fe Springs' November 9 City Council Agenda discusses the adoption of a resolution of necessity for each of the necessary acquisitions.  It appears a few ...