California Eminent Domain Report

In August, I reported on the decision in City of Perris v. Stamper, in which the Court of Appeal weighed in on the ever-shifting line dividing the judge and jury's roles in eminent domain cases. At the time, I poked a bit of fun at a former colleague,Rick Friess, who won the appeal but was still complaining that the Court didn't see everything exactly his way.

Well, it appears that my good friend hasn't quite given up yet. Last week, the California Supreme Court decided to hear the case, meaning Rick will have one more crack at his dedication argument. The Supreme Court is limiting its review to ...

When Governor Brown eliminated California’s redevelopment agencies with one swipe of his pen (OK, fine, he had a bit of help from the California Supreme Court as well), one of the things that got a bit lost in the ensuing chaos is the fact that California’s redevelopment law had evolved over the decades, becoming hopelessly intertwined with any number of other laws.

One such law is the Polanco Act, Health and Safety Code sections 33459 et seq.  The Polanco Act provided the government with tools to clean up contaminated property.  More specifically, it allowed the government either to ...

The Southern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute will be holding its 46th Annual Litigation Seminar this Friday, November 15.  The list of topics sounds fantastic:

• It's Just a Simple Rent Re-Setting in a Ground Lease
• If the Glove Doesn't Fit . . . Make it Fit (Abuses in the Tax Appeal Process)
• Hot Topics in Eminent Domain
• Planning for and Managing Large Acquisition Projects -- Lessons Learned
• Uneconomic Remnants -- Are They Always?
• We Just Need Your Property on a Temporary Basis -- For the Next 4 Years
• Decisions, Decisions, Decisions (A Review of Recent Major Valuation Cases)
• The ...