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Sheetz v County of El Dorado __ S.Ct. __ [2024]
In Sheetz v County of El Dorado __ S.Ct. __ [2024], the Supreme Court of the United States held that fees imposed to mitigate traffic congestion that might result from erecting a home on a parcel of land must have an “essential nexus” to the government’s land-use interest and must have a “rough proportionality” to the development’s impact on the land-use interest regardless of whether the fees are predetermined by a legislatively prescribed fee schedule or imposed on an individual and discretionary basis by an administrative branch of government. The… read more
December 18, 2023
Oneida IDA has authority to acquire property for a parking lot
The New York State Court of Appeals just reversed an order of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, that rejected Oneida County Industrial Development Agency’s determination to acquire property by eminent domain. The OCIDA sought to acquire property for a parking facility that would satisfy the need for parking created by a nearby medical office building. The Fourth Department decided that OCIDA lacked the authority to acquire the subject property because the acquisition was necessary for a larger hospital and healthcare facility project and not for… read more
By Josh RikonOctober 19, 2023
THE PARTIAL TAKING
Condemning authorities do not always take an entire parcel in an eminent domain proceeding. Indeed, in the Court of Claims, the majority of the appropriation claims are partial takings arising in the context of a highway project. Partial takings may also occur in the context of takings for sewer lines, electrical transmission lines, or as is the subject of recent nationwide proposals, pipelines. As a general rule, the measure of damages in a partial-taking case is the difference between the fair market value of the whole property before the taking… read more
October 17, 2023
Utilizing the Power of Eminent Domain to Stop a Nuisance
According to an article published in Newsday, the Hempstead Town Board has taken the first step to seize a shuttered West Hempstead motel through eminent domain to stop activities that it says make it a nuisance, a tactic a legal expert called “unusual.” The town board scheduled a hearing for December 5 to condemn the Capri Motor Inn on Hempstead Turnpike. The board resolution, adopted at its October 3 meeting without discussion, alleges that the town has “received complaints, and this board has taken testimony that evidence prostitution, narcotics activity,… read more
October 10, 2023
Eminent Domain Was Used to Evict a Chinatown Family. Now It Might Help Them Stay Housed.
An article in the Los Angles Times describes how the Hernandez family was forced from their one-bedroom apartment in Chinatown by eminent domain for a 30-acre expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center in 1988. Now, eminent domain could actually keep the Hernandez family housed. The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously in 2021 to explore the use of eminent domain to acquire Hillside Villa, a 124-unit apartment complex in Chinatown where Mrs. Hernandez has lived for 30 years with her husband, daughter and now grandson. Her apartment building’s affordability… read more
The purpose of the Goldstein, Rikon, Rikon & Levi, P.C. Eminent Domain Blog is to provide the public with information about the practice of eminent domain law. We also hope to share relevant updates and legal developments affecting this area of the law.