The Eminent Domain Law allows a property owner to challenge the right to take property on grounds that the agency will not likely devote the property to the stated purpose within seven years.  (CCP § 1250.360(d)) The recent case of Rutgard v. City of Los Angeles (2020) Cal.App. LEXIS 709 is a good reminder that…

In an eminent domain case, the acquiring agency admits it is taking private property for a public project.   Certain aspects of eminent domain law and procedure are codified in the Code of Civil Procedure, which provisions make up the Eminent Domain Law.  One of these procedures requires that parties in an eminent domain case exchange…

While sheltering in place with the rest of the world, I thought I would share some publications addressing interesting issues raised about the interplay between the government’s reaction to COVID-19 and the eminent domain law.  See below. The Government’s Authority to Condemn Property to Combat the Coronavirus.  Do Government Shutdowns for Coronavirus Invoke the Takings…

Often times, a public agency will be successful in negotiating a purchase and sale of occupied property without the need to file an eminent domain complaint.  However, unlike a simple arms-length sale and unless otherwise stated, an acquisition in lieu of eminent domain terminates the lease as a matter of law.  See Code Civ. Proc. § 1265.110 (“[w]here…

California’s Williamson Act, also known as the California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (Gov. Code § 51200 et seq.), provides that “it is the policy of the state to avoid, whenever practicable, the location of any state or local public improvements and improvements of public utilities, and the acquisition of land therefore, in agricultural preserves.” …

An often overlooked pre-condemnation requirement is that the project be reviewed for consistency with the general plan.  California Government Code section 65402 requires that a city, county or local agency may not acquire real property until the location, purpose, and extent of such acquisition have been submitted to and reported upon by the “planning agency”…