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Archive | Eminent Domain

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

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Posted in Condemnation, Eminent Domain, Just Compensation, Nuisance, Police Power
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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

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Posted in Condemnation, Eminent Domain, Public Purpose
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July 25, 2023

Federal Funds Now Devoted to Help Undo the Damage to Black Neighborhoods by Urban Renewal

We have previously written how Urban Renewal brought under the Federal Housing Act of 1949 authorized cities to use the power of eminent domain to clear “blighted neighborhoods” for “higher use.”  (See “Urban Renewal, An Assault on Black Neighborhoods, New York Law Journal, February 24, 2023.) African Americans, who were 12% of the population in the US, were five times more likely to be displaced than they should have been given their numbers in the population.  In city after city, highways that were built to appease white suburban commuters, and… read more

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Posted in Blight, Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal
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July 18, 2023

You Want a Pipeline? You Know What to Do!

The Wall Street Journal featured an article written by David Harrison titled, “Lost Pipeline a Bitter Pill for Foes.” The story is about the Mountain Valley Pipeline running through West Virginia and Virginia.  It was successfully challenged for over ten years.  The 303-mile, $6.6 billion pipeline running through the two states was a pet project of Senator Joe Manchin who couldn’t line up enough senate votes for his bill despite repeated attempts. Landowners and environmental groups have fought the pipeline since it was first proposed in 2014.  Many landowners also… read more

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Posted in Congress, Eminent Domain, Mountain Valley Pipeline, Pipelines, Sen. Joe Manchin
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June 27, 2023

Who’s in Charge Here: The Province of the Trial Court in a Condemnation Case

New York is one of only three states in the nation that does not allow trial by jury in an eminent domain case.  All claims against the State of New York and certain other state authorities have exclusive jurisdiction in the Court of Claims where, regardless of the nature of the claim, there are no jury trials.  Appropriation claims in the Court of Claims are certainly included and are tried by a Court of Claims Judge.  Other condemnation matters must be tried by a Justice of the Supreme Court.  This… read more

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Posted in Comparable Sales, Eminent Domain, Expert Witness, Province of Trial Court
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