California Eminent Domain Report

Several years ago, the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District filed a "friendly" eminent domain action to acquire a portion of an unimproved "paper" street from the City of Lake Elsinore.  The property was to be used to construct a water pumping station to serve a nearby development, and the City had no objection.  The water district took possession, and began construction of the pumping station.  So far, this seems like a non-story, right?

Well, to the water district's surprise, a nearby property owner appeared in the action and challenged the water district's ...

Perhaps the most talked-about California eminent domain case in 2009 has been the City of Stockton v. Marina Towers decision, in which the Court struck down the City's right to take property where the resolution of necessity contained no real public purpose (not surprising, since the City did not know at the time it filed the action what it would do with the property).   The case's tag-line usually played out like this:  the "project" was the condemnation itself, which does not qualify as a public purpose.   

This holding was itself somewhat interesting, as California law ...