California Eminent Domain Law Blog

By Michael Miyamoto A commercial property in the 3700 block of South Mooney Boulevard will be demolished sometime this morning. The property was taken over by Caltrans through eminent domain, despite protests by the owners and others. A California Highway Patrol officer and an official from Caltrans were at the site to monitor the demolition… Read more »

NBC San Diego TORREY PINES, Calif. — Relief for North County commuters could mean nightmares for some high-end residents on properties along Interstate 5 — losing their homes to make way for new freeway connectors. As many as 30 homeowners who live on Portofino Drive, which parallels Interstate 5 immediately to the west in the… Read more »

By David Bolling If the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act sounds familiar, that’s because voters were led down a similar path just a year ago with Proposition 90, which sought to force government to pay property owners for any restrictive zoning. That measure lost by a 47.7 to 52.3 percent margin, but not… Read more »

By Bethania Palma AZUSA – Small-business owners said they will bear the brunt of redevelopment if the city moves forward with plans to buy their properties for projects, including larger national retail stores. In September 2006, the City Council gave its redevelopment agency authority to use eminent domain to acquire businesses in redevelopment zones. Although… Read more »

By Gerald Carroll A Visalia property owner can no longer access his Mooney Boulevard commercial property after it was fenced and padlocked Friday by Caltrans. The state’s highway-construction agency on Sept. 11 acquired — through court-ordered eminent domain — a portion of David McWilliams’ 33,000-square-foot commercial lot. Caltrans made it official Friday by formally evicting… Read more »

By Kelly Enos Recent eminent domain proceedings flying around Amador County – and a particularly controversial case in Plymouth – have some property owners concerned that they could lose what they have worked to keep for years. “I wasn’t really sure what it meant when I first heard the term,” said Shenandoah Valley resident Jose… Read more »

By Danny Bernardini A Fairfield man may end up doing battle in federal court against Travis Air Force Base, which is seeking to take 13 acres of his land under eminent domain to bolster security at the south gate of the base. Bill Maher, 80, was served with legal papers last week giving him until… Read more »

By Gerald Carroll A Visalia property owner says he stands to lose more than $1 million if Caltrans follows through on the eminent-domain seizure of a strip of his Mooney Boulevard parcel. Dave McWilliams’ 33,000-square-foot property is located in the 3700 block of South Mooney Boulevard, near Costco and Circuit City. On Sept. 11, Tulare… Read more »

By Doug Haberman RIVERSIDE – Since 2004, when Dom Betro, Art Gage and Steve Adams took seats on the City Council, the Riverside Redevelopment Agency has filed 18 eminent domain lawsuits to help spark revitalization downtown and in other parts of the city. The council acts as a board of directors for the agency, whose… Read more »

By Janet Wilson The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday designated nearly all of Southern California, parts of Arizona and much of the northeast as “national interest” energy transmission corridors, an action that allows federal regulators to approve new high-voltage towers and lets private utilities condemn homes and land even if a state agency won’t…. Read more »