California Eminent Domain Law Blog

By Rose Albano-Risso LATHROP – The days of the old rustic red barn along the San Joaquin River at the end of Towne Centre Drive are numbered. The Lathrop City Council earlier this week voted unanimously to authorize city staff to begin eminent domain proceedings leading to the acquisition of a portion of the Silveira… Read more »

By Brooke Edwards VICTORVILLE — The Victorville City Council unanimously approved the use of eminent domain on 34 properties needed for its latest energy project, the Victorville 2 power plant. “When do you really expect the lights to go out here, folks, that you have to do this our family?” property owner Bob Landwehr questioned… Read more »

By Tony Krickl The Police Commission has identified its top location for a new police station. A 7-acre plot of land just south of the city yard was chosen for its size, location, accessibility and visibility. In December 2007, an architectural firm was contracted to review the top 10 sites identified by the commission as… Read more »

SAN DIEGO — Carmel Valley residents are up in arms about a proposed Caltrans project. Several residents who live near the proposed project rallied outside a Caltrans meeting on Thursday. “Our choice is either a totally unpleasant living environment or being forced out of a place that we really grew attached to,” resident Dan Brown… Read more »

By Mark Noack The Half Moon Bay City Council has agreed to pay Equilon Enterprises more than $360,000 for property taken under the city’s eminent domain authority for the Highway 92 widening project. The settlement was announced Tuesday night by City Attorney Tony Condotti during the council’s regular public meeting. Equilon Enterprises, which owns the… Read more »

ENERGY DELIVERY: Six possible utility routes include razing up to 3,500 houses or infringing on wildland. By Jennifer Bowles and Imran Ghori A transmission route being considered by Los Angeles to carry renewable energy from the Salton Sea could lead to the condemnation of 3,500 homes and other properties in the Inland region to make… Read more »

By Airan Scruby PICO RIVERA – City officials say they are ready to proceed with a $43.4 million plan to tunnel under railroad tracks on Passons Boulevard, creating an underpass for traffic. In the process, residents of five houses and the 90-unit Rivera Villa apartment complex will be relocated, and their homes demolished. “It’s probably… Read more »

By Patrick McGreevy SACRAMENTO — Backers of the defeated Proposition 98, which would have phased out rent control and broadly limited government’s ability to take private property, vowed Wednesday to take the eminent domain issue to the state Capitol, in hopes of persuading legislators to do what voters would not. At the same time, Tuesday’s… Read more »

By Dan Abendschein Californians easily passed an eminent domain ballot measure Tuesday that will protect some residential properties from being seized by the government. Proposition 99’s passage could affect the future of a proposed multimillion-dollar project in Baldwin Park that could include a hotel, a 1,000-student charter school and luxury housing. Marko Mlikotin, president of… Read more »

By Paul Burgarino John Stoneking says he has been under siege by the county for the past two decades. Stoneking, a 61-year resident in the Orbisonia Heights area of Bay Point, has fought plans by the county’s Redevelopment Agency to redevelop his 7.6-acre neighborhood near Bailey Road into a transit-oriented housing and commercial area. He… Read more »