California Eminent Domain Report

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 ...

Just a reminder about two upcoming events that you may be interested in attending:

• On May 5, IRWA Chapter 57 (Riverside/Inland Empire) will hold its monthly meeting at the Riverside Convention Center.  The speaker is Carol Brooks, and her topic is "Conflict Management:  How to Stay Cool in the Heat of Conflict."  Sounds like an interesting topic for all you right-of-way folks and relocation consultants that regularly deal with property and business owners facing eminent domain and relocation.

• On May 11, IRWA Chapter 67 (Orange County) will hold its annual ...

On May 11, Chapter 67 of the IRWA (Orange County) is hosting a half-day seminar focused on the interrelationship between renewable energy, right-of-way acquisitions, and eminent domain.  If tying renewable energy to eminent domain sounds like a bit of a stretch, you apparently haven't been following all the recent news about the struggle to entitle and build renewable energy projects.  Just yesterday, the White House Blog featured a profile on federal energy policies entitled Building a New Foundation for Energy and the Environment. 

Between the project facility itself and the ...

If you are an eminent domain attorney, a right-of-way agent, or an appraiser working in Southern California, you will have ample opportunities to expand your horizons (or at least your networking circles) in April.  Here's just a sampling of what's coming up locally:

• April 12-13:  CLE International is holding its 12th Annual Eminent Domain Conference at the Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles.  If you're looking for two full days of hearing about eminent domain . . . you probably need help.  But if you are, this is a great program, with a number of top speakers.

• April 13:  IRWA Chapter 67 ...

The Appraisal Institute and Chapter 1 of the IRWA are holding their annual joint meeting on March 23.  It is being held at Steven's Steakhouse in Commerce.  Here are the details:

Steven's Steak House
5332 Stevens Place
Commerce, CA 90040

March 23, 2010
11:30 - Registration & Check-in
12:00 - Lunch & Presentation

The speaker will be Greg Angelo, Director of Real Property Management & Development at Los Angeles County MTA (Metro).   Mr. Angelo will talk about current Metro projects, including Expo Corridor Phase 1, Orange Line to Chatsworth, and I-405 Sepulveda Pass.  He will also talk ...

On March 9, 2010, Chapter 67 of the IRWA is holding its monthly lunch meeting.  The meeting is being held, as always, at the Santa Ana/OC Airport Holiday Inn.  This month's speakers are Patrick A. Hennessey and Michael H. Leifer, who are presenting "Inverse Condemnation: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."   MCLE credit is available for attorneys. 

You can RSVP to Hospitality Chair Joe Munsey at Jmunsey@semprautilities.com (it's $15 if you RSVP, or $20 at the door).   Here are the details:

Santa Ana/OC Airport Holiday Inn
2726 South Grand Ave.
Santa Ana, CA 92705

Meet & Greet:  11:30am ...

Our office received notice yesterday afternoon that due to the current fiscal crisis, the Los Angeles County Superior Court is closing Department 59, effective February 22.  Everyone who practices eminent domain in Los Angeles knows about Department 59, the Department designated for eminent domain cases in Los Angeles County. 

Commissioner Mitchell has been handling eminent domain cases in Department 59 for many years, and his knowledge of this unique area of law has made pretrial procedures in Los Angeles run smoother than anywhere else in Southern California.   Even for those ...

I will be speaking February 11 at the Sacramento IRWA Chapter's lunch meeting (Chapter 27).  My presentation will be about avoiding pitfalls under the new eminent domain prejudgment possession rules.   This topic has received considerable attention over the past couple of years, and will undoubtedly be the focus of more attention over the next few years as appellate decisions involving the new rules start to appear.  

The meeting details are as follows:

La Provence
110 Diamond Creek Place
Roseville, CA 95747
(916) 789-2002

Board Meeting: 10:30 a.m.
Registration/ Meet & ...

Next week, Chapter 67 of the IRWA (Orange County) is holding its annual Past Presidents' lunch.   The lunch will feature speaker Randall S. Stamen, an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist -- and an attorney.  In case the really long title is slowing you down, I think that means he is a tree expert and, in particular for the IRWA's purposes, that he has expertise in dealing with relocation and valuation of trees impacted by eminent domain actions.  

Though it seems at first glance like a fairly odd topic, tree issues do arise with some regularity in condemnation cases ...

On February 3, Chapter 57 of the International Right of Way Association will hold its next lunch meeting.  The speaker will be Barry McDaniel, the CEO at Overland, Pacific and Cutler.  Barry is a well-recognized -- and very successful -- relocation consultant.  He will be speaking about "Move Planning." 

The meeting details are as follows:

Riverside Convention Center
3443 Orange Street
Riverside, California

The meeting starts at 11:30 and should be over by around 1:00.  The cost is $16.00 if you RSVP in advance, and $20.00 at the door.  You can RSVP to Chapter 57 Communications ...

On January 21, the Southern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute is holding its 17th Annual Los Angeles/Orange County Market Trends Seminar.  The panel looks quite good, and the event is being chaired by Orell Anderson, MAI, Steve Valdez, Michael Kearns & Tyler Baird.  They report having only a few seats left, so act quickly if you want to attend. 

The seminar runs from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and is being held at ...

Today I attended the latest IRWA Tri-Chapter Installation Lunch for Chapters 1 (Los Angeles), 57 (Inland Empire), and 67 (Orange County).  This year, my home chapter, Chapter 67, hosted the event, which was held at the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.  Despite the poor economy, 165 of the finest right-of-way professionals in Southern California showed up, and it was -- as always -- more a holiday celebration lunch than a formal meeting. 

International President Sandy Grigg flew down from Canada to install new officers for Chapters 1 and 57 (Chapter 67 will install new officers in ...

Yesterday, I spoke at the Appraisal Institute's 42nd Annual Litigation Seminar.  As usual, it was a great event, well attended by many of the top eminent domain appraisers in Southern California.  I spoke about recent developments in a presentation entitled "Eminent Domain: Where Are We, and Where Have We Been?"  [PDF] 

While I am confident that anyone in attendance would tell you I was brilliant, I want to focus today on some issues that arose in Ted Whitmer's presentation entitled Legal Instructions, Litigation & Appraisal Institute Standards.  Ted's firm, Appraiser Defense

On November 16-17, CLE International is holding one of the biggest eminent domain events of the year, its 11th Annual Conference, Eminent Domain:  Appraisal to Appeal.  The conference is being held at the Stanford Court hotel.  Registration is currently open.

Many top eminent domain attorneys and appraisers are scheduled to make presentations.  I am speaking with my partner, Gale Connor, at 3:30 p.m. on November 17.  We will be talking with Norman Hulberg, MAI, about ...

On November 18, the Southern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute is hosting its 42nd Annual Litigation Seminar.  This full-day event features a great panel of speakers, and has been approved for eight hours of both Appraisal Institute and Office of Real Estate Appraisers ("OREA") continuing education credit. 

It is being held at:
Embassy Suites Hotel
11767 Harbor Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA 92840 
714-539-3300

I will be speaking at 3:45 p.m. on "New Cases & What’s Happening in Eminent Domain."  I understand that I am the last speaker of the day, and that you will ...

This is the question John G. Ellis, MAI addressed at the IRWA Chapter 1 Fall Seminar last Tuesday. Mr. Ellis divided his presentation into four distinct questions:

1. What is the current state of the market;
2. How did we get to where we are now;
3. What are the trends looking forward; and
4. Have we hit bottom yet?

The picture painted by Mr. Ellis [PDF] was befitting of the Halloween season, and in some cases was downright depressing. Most submarkets are demonstrating reduced sales volumes, lower rents, higher cap rates, and lower sale prices. Mr. Ellis demonstrated how a 1.25% increase in the ...

Yesterday's IRWA Chapter 1 seminar in Los Angeles was a great success, with an outstanding panel of speakers.  The morning started with an informative presentation by Dave Guder of Southern California Edison about the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project and renewable energy sources in general. 

The liveliest discussion, however, centered around a narrow issue that triggered some surprisingly animated responses.  The issue involved a condemning agency's use of one appraiser for the initial eminent domain offer and deposit of probable compensation, and another appraiser ...

On October 20, Chapter 1 of the International Right-of-Way Association is holding its Fall Seminar.  The event is being chaired by one of my partners, David Graeler, and it has a good line-up of speakers. 

One of the more interesting discussions may be the 10:50 session looking at eminent domain from both an agency and a landowner perspective.  The speakers for that session are Michael Thornton, from my firm's San Francisco office, and Gary Kovacic, from Sullivan, Workman & Dee in Los Angeles ...

There was an interesting discussion at the IRWA Chapter 57 seminar last Friday, and it’s one that I have seen play out many times in many contexts, so I thought it was worth a short discussion here. The issue was when the illegal gift of public funds doctrine comes into play in the context of an eminent domain case (the text appears in Article XVI, section 6 of the California Constitution). The concept is simple: The government cannot give away public funds to a private person or company. The eminent domain scenario is all too frequent: A proposed settlement is for more than the property’s ...

The Inland Empire chapter of the International Right-of-Way Association is holding its 2009 Education Seminar and Fundraiser (Casino Night) on October 16, 2009, at the Eagle Glen Golf Course in Corona.  The event starts with lunch at 11:30 a.m. and goes through a raffle at the end of the casino night at 9:45 p.m.

The education program is entitled "Looking Forward in a Backward Right of Way World," and it features Bruce Norris of The Norris Group, talking about foreclosures, followed by three moderated panels, one on acquisitions, one on relocations, and one on eminent domain.

One ...

I attended the IRWA Chapter 1 (Los Angeles chapeter) lunch meeting today, and listened to my partner, Rick Friess, speak about the Pitfalls of Prejudgment Possession [PDF]. The most lively part of the discussion centered on the requirement that condemning agencies offer the property owner $5,000 to obtain his or her own appraisal, and whether the agencies can condition that money on anything. There was clear agreement on the fact that to date, no case has interpreted the requirement, and that there is at least some ambiguity about what, if any, conditions may be imposed.

Typically ...