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Frequent readers know that we just love the Australian comedy film “The Castle,” which tells the tale of one man’s legal fight to save his family’s home from the abusive exercise of eminent domain power. (See “Kelo Down Under,” our review.) The case is played for laughs and in the end, the homeowner naturally prevails, the private benefit is quashed by Australia’s High Court, and all’s well that ends well.

Those of us who practice this kind of law understand that real life doesn’t always — or even often — work out the way it does in the movies: the good guys may not always prevail, and even when things are looking up, the road ahead may be filled with many unexpected bumps and turns. 

So it is in “Leviathan,” the latest film from Russia’s Andrey Zvyagintsev.

Not that we would expect…

Continue Reading Movie Review: Leviathan – “The Castle” Gone Bad

We can’t hear or read the word “plethora” without thinking of the “¡Three Amigos!” scene with Jefe and El Guapo, so when the California Court of Appeal “apologize[d] for the plethora of statutory citations and footnotes” (in a footnote!) in the latest opinion about the fallout and intragovernmental battle over the money in the wake of the “Great Dissolution” of California’s redevelopment agencies, we naturally had to post the video.

Bottom line: the agreements which the County entered into as the successor to the county redevelopment agency “are ‘enforceable obligations’ of a former redevelopment agency that continue to be payable out of property taxes before distribution of the remainder to the taxing entities.” Slip op. at 2. 

County of Sonoma v. Cohen, No. C075120 (Cal. App. Mar. 12, 2015)

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Continue Reading Cal App: “A Plethora of Statutory Citations And Footnotes” In The Latest Redevelopment Chapter

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In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit concluded that Norfolk, Virginia’s sign ordinance did not violate the First Amendment, when it was applied to bar the anti-eminent domain banner shown above.  

Central Radio Co. Inc. v. City of Norfolk, No. 13-1996 (4th Cir. Jan. 13, 2015), arose from a situation that also resulted in a property-owner favorable ruling from the Virginia Supreme Court in 2013. See PKO Ventures, LLC v. Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, 747 S.E.2d 826 (Va. Sep. 12, 2013) (a case won by our Owners’ Counsel colleagues at Waldo & Lyle). The city’s redevelopment authority planned on taking property to transfer it to Old Dominion University, but the Supreme Court shut it down, holding that the agency did not have the authority to take non-blighted property. See our write up of that decision here. 

While it was…

Continue Reading 4th Cir OK’s City’s Sign Ordinance: You Can “Whisper” Your Anti-Eminent Domain Message, But You Can’t “Shout” It

The Texas Supreme Court is generally pretty good about property rights. See this opinion, this one, and this one, for examples.

So when the legal analysis in one of its regulatory takings/inverse condemnation opinions has the following language — especially in a case where a municipal government has treated the plaintiffs/property owners very badly — it would be understandable if you predicted the court was coming down on the side of the property owners:

The right to acquire and maintain private property is among our most cherished liberties. As Locke explained, the value of private property lies not only in its objective utility, but also in any personal investment therein. See John Locke, Two Treatises of Government 134 (Thomas I. Cook ed., Hafner Press 1947) (1689). Accordingly, the right to undisturbed enjoyment of residential property is all the more sacred. The unique importance of the home is reflected in our Bill of…

Continue Reading Texas (Reluctantly) Finds No Regulatory Takings Claim

9780199322541_450After a couple of days detouring to election law, today we’re back to our usual programming.

We caught wind of an upcoming book (September 2014), “Private Property and Public Power: Eminent Domain in Philadelphia,” by Barnard College Professor Deborah Becher. “Her book—the first comprehensive study of a city’s eminent domain acquisitions—explores how and why Philadelphia took properties for private redevelopment between 1992 and 2007.” Sounds intriguing. More information about the book here.

Here’s an interview with Professor Becher about the book and her study, which lists some of her more controversial — and debatable — conclusions. Highlights:

  • “The problem is that pundits and activists present the transfer of ownership to a new private owner as the fundamental problem. They say that if government were to take property for a school, a highway, or a public park, abuse wouldn’t be an issue, and that all takings for new

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Continue Reading Upcoming Book: Private Property and Public Power – Eminent Domain in Philadelphia

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ALI-CLE, the good folks who put on the annual programs on Eminent Domain and Land Valuation, and Condemnation 101: How to Prepare and Present an Eminent Domain Case, have announced the dates and venue for the 2015 conferences:

Thursday – Saturday, February 5-7, 2015 

Hotel Nikko, in San Francisco.

Those of you who have attended or taught at these conferences in the past know they are the premier programs on this topic, and feature exciting presentations and excellent faculty.

I’ve been honored to be asked to serve as the Planning Co-chair of the 32d annual Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation program, stepping into the able shoes of Leslie Fields, who retired last year. Joe Waldo is continuing as Planning Co-Chair. Joe and I are currently putting together the agenda and faculty for the program, and we will have more on that soon. Andrew…

Continue Reading Mark Your Calendars: 2015 ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation, and Condemnation 101 – February 5-7, 2015, San Francisco

Here are two recent reports on the progress of the Honolulu rail project that should be read in-tandem:

Both stories are partially behind a paywall, but here’s the relevant bits. The first story reports that HART, the city agency created to build and operate the rail is in “another race against time,” this time to acquire the private property it needs to build the rail’s easternmost stretch through Honolulu’s urban core (the tough part, in other words). According to HART, acquisition of access is “our single highest priority.” Which sounds like a big bite: HART Director “Grabauskas and HART staff say they’re aiming to do some 18 months of work negotiating those properties in only six months’ time. They intend to purchase approximately…

Continue Reading Honolulu Rail And The Use Of Eminent Domain

Our thanks to Jacob Cremer for the heads-up on the Florida Court of Appeals’ decision in Ocean Palm Golf Club Partnership v. City of Flagler Beach, No. 5D12-4274 (May 30, 2014). Jacob did not post any analysis (undertstandable because his law firm is involved in the case) so we’ll add our two cents.  

Here’s the BLUF: the city’s refusal to change the zoning on a 9-hole golf course and a surrounding parcel to allow residential development did not deprive the parcels of their value, and were not a taking. 

Here’s the longer story. The case involved two parcels, one the golf course, and the other, a vacant parcel. At one time, they were a single parcel owned by a single owner, but by the time of the litigation, they had been subdivided and separately owned by two separate but related entities. Back in the day, the city…

Continue Reading Fla App: Because A Golf Course That Eventually Went Broke (And Was Later Bought By The City) Was “Profitable,” City Not Liable For A Taking

Here’s a quick update on a recent post about an Orlando church which is being targeted by the city so it can build a new stadium for a privately-owned soccer franchise.

Turns out the church has hired our Owners’ Counsel colleague and friend Andrew Brigham, and will be opposing the taking on public use grounds, among others. More about the church’s response here and here. 

This just got really interesting. 

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Continue Reading Orlando Church To Fight Taking

Battle for Brooklyn film poster

You remember Battle for Brooklyn, the documentary which chronicles the eminent domain fight over New York’s Atlantic Yards project? (Read our review of the film here to refresh your recollection.)

Well here’s the latest chapter. Or perhaps “epilogue” is more appropriate, because the former property owners have long since been evicted, the homes have been razed, and the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets are ensconced in the Barclays Center. (The promised affordable housing and “jobs, jobs, jobs?” Eh, not so much, but who’s counting?)

According to this story in the New York Times, preservationists are planning to award the private beneficiaries of the city’s exercise of eminent domain something called the “Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal.” Seriously:

The Municipal Art Society is well known for campaigns to save Grand Central Terminal and Lever House and to stop towers that would have cast long shadows over…

Continue Reading Atlantic Yards: How About Calling It The “Jay Z” Medal?