California Eminent Domain Report

When a public agency seeks to acquire property by eminent domain, the agency’s appraiser sometimes forgets to account for unique value attributes of the property. For example, the valuation may fail to take into account income the property generates from a billboard or a cell tower. According to an article on KCRA News, 'I think they are a bunch of thieves': Auburn couple decries Caltrans' eminent domain move, this situation is currently playing out in Northern California. …

On April 1, Nossaman’s Eminent Domain Group hosted a webinar to discuss the impacts COVID-19 is having on the Right of Way industry.  First, I’d like to thank the people who attended, many of whom added thoughtful questions to the discussion.  It’s clear a lot of people are giving these issues a lot of thought.  Second, obviously things continue to evolve at a breathtaking pace, and even by the time this post goes from being drafted to appearing on the blog, things are likely to change. 

Note that this post is not meant to recap the things we discussed at the webinar.  If you weren’t able to join us and want to review what we covered, feel free to download the COVID-19 PowerPoint we used, or watch the entire recorded webinar.  No, the purpose of this post is to provide some insights as to what other right of way professionals are thinking about a few of these issues.  During the webinar, we asked several poll questions, and since the Nossaman team found the results interesting, I’m hoping some of you will as well ...

Just a few months ago, the California Court of Appeal handed down a significant decision in Property Reserve v. Superior Court which nearly eviscerated public agencies' ability to make use of the statutory "right of entry" procedure to gain access to private property to conduct any significant investigations and testing.  The Court held that any notable physical intrusion onto private property constituted a taking, meaning the public agency needed to proceed with an eminent domain proceeding.  The decision caused an uproar among public agencies across the state.  Well, pump the ...

You know how sometimes you go to one of those educational seminars, and it sounds interesting, but then it turns out that a lot of it doesn't really apply to what you actually do?  We hate it when that happens, and so we are constantly trying to find that perfect seminar that covers exactly what we want it to cover. 

After months of careful searching, we didn't find what we were seeking, so we came up with a different plan.  We're going to host our own seminar and fill it full of exactly what we want to cover. 

On March 20, Nossaman will be hosting its first ever Eminent Domain Seminar.  It's going to be ...

We've covered in the past the impacts property and business owners suffer when government agencies plan for public projects.  We've also covered when agency planning crosses the line and results in precondemnation damages or a de facto taking.  A recent unpublished Court of Appeal decision, Joffe v. City of Huntington Park, highlights (1) the types of impacts owners suffer and (2) the difficulty owners face in trying to recover for such impacts.

In Joffe, a related property owner and furniture manufacturing business claimed that the city repeatedly expressed a desire to ...

Yesterday, I chaired the International Right of Way Association Chapter 67 (Orange County) spring seminar, focused on the interrelationship between renewable energy, right-of-way acquisitions, and eminent domain.  It was a great success.  For those of you who were in attendance -- or for those of you that missed the seminar but would like a recap -- all of the speakers were generous enough to allow us to make their presentations available.

• Dave Kilpatrick's presentation, titled "Energy Independence -- the Impossible Dream?" [PDF], focused on our nation's overall ...

Over the years, the approval process for development projects in California has become more burdensome, more difficult, and more time consuming.  The project proponent -- whether a private developer or a public agency -- spends months, and usually years, addressing environmental issues, processing entitlements and, for bigger projects, often facing court challenges.  But what does this have to do with eminent domain?

Well, property owners and business owners typically become aware of potential government projects very early in the planning process.  And while the ...

When LifeChoices sought to expand its rehabilitation center in 2002, the City of San Jose rejected the proposal, citing its plans for a future Berryessa Bay Area Rapid Transit ("BART") station, which would require freeway interchange improvements on the property.  According to John Woolfolk's October 23 Mercury News article, "San Jose to pay $2 million to acquire parcel and settle lawsuit," five years later LifeChoices' owner, John Licking, filed suit, challenging the City of San Jose's denial as constituting discrimination against the disabled.

Now, San Jose has agreed to pay ...

In his September 16 article entitled DWP outmaneuvered on Kern County land purchase, Los Angeles Times reporter David Zahniser described a story full of political intrigue. It seems someone with ties to Mayor Villaraigosa acquired a property out from under the Department of Water and Power (DWP), only to immediately offer to sell the property to DWP at a hugely inflated price. While the article focuses mainly on the political aspect of the situation (e.g., did the buyer know about DWPs plans for the property when it purchased it, etc.), the eminent domain angle is also interesting.

The ...