Posts from 2009
Posted in Projects

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 ...

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Tags: Projects

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 ...

Posted in Redevelopment

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 ...

Just over a year ago, on October 1, 2008, the California Court of Appeal issued a fairly rare ruling:  it found a public agency had committed a regulatory taking and remanded the matter back to the trial court to determine the amount of damages to be paid to the property owners.  Specifically, the Court held in Monks v. City of Ranchos Palos Verdes that the City of Ranchos Palos Verdes' rules preventing development in an area susceptible to landslides (the infamous Portuguese Bend landslide area) constituted a regulatory taking that was not justified by the city's power to regulate ...
Posted in Projects

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 ...

Posted in Right to Take

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 ...

Posted in Projects

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 ...

Posted in Projects

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 ...

Posted in Projects

Today, I attended the IRWA Chapter 67 monthly lunch meeting.   The speaker was Philip Law, Corridors Program Manager for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).  He came to discuss SCAG's 2008 Regional Transportation Plan.  The plan is intended to coordinate efforts to implement transportation improvements through Southern California.  It involves a $531.5 billion, 25-year long range plan of needed improvements.

The Plan's Executive Summary [PDF] describes in detail the various plan components, including ...

Posted in Projects

Government agencies often require developers of large projects to build the necessary infrastructure to accommodate those proposed projects.  Examples include building a new roadway to reach the project, widening an existing roadway due to the project's adding extra trips to the daily traffic, and installing improvements for utilities and flood control, among other things.  But how do developers acquire the right-of-way when the necessary property is privately owned? 

The proposed Merriam Mountains residential development project in north Escondido is a ...

California Eminent Domain Report is a one-stop resource for everything new and noteworthy in eminent domain. We cover all aspects of eminent domain, including condemnation, inverse condemnation and regulatory takings. We also keep track of current cases, project announcements, budget issues, legislative reform efforts and report on all major eminent domain conferences and seminars in the Western United States.

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