Eminent Domain Report

When a public agency acquires property for a public project, property owners have a constitutional right to receive just compensation. But what about the businesses that operate on the property – are they entitled to anything? 

The rights of business owners vary from state to state, as there is not a constitutional right to compensation for business losses. In California, business owners may be entitled to compensation for several items. These include:

• Loss of Business Goodwill: A business may accrue “goodwill” because of its location, reputation and ability to attract and ...

According to an article in the Mercury News, Fremont may use eminent domain process to buy land needed for proposed downtown, the City of Fremont's City Council will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday to consider the adoption of a resolution of necessity to acquire a property for the Capitol Avenue Extension Project.  The impacted property is located at 39138 Fremont Blvd., and it consists of 65,150 square feet of land improved with a three-story building.

The Mercury News article indicates that the staff report supporting the adoption of the resolution of necessity provides ...

With plans to demolish the old Carriage Square shopping center and rebuild it with a Lowe's, the City of Oxnard was on the verge of passing a resolution of necessity to acquire by eminent domain the leasehold interests of one of the few remaining tenants of the center.  However, according to an article by Scott Hadly, "Oxnard, credit union likely to avoid eminent domain clash," the City's threat of eminent domain appears to have resulted in a deal with that tenant, Pacific Oaks Credit Union.

In order to force the tenant to relocate and give up its rights under its lease, the City ...