2007 Land Use in Review: Due Process Notice in Eminent Domain

Several cases focused on the issue of due process notice in eminent domain.  In Divine v Town of Nantucket, 449 Mass. 499, ___ N.E.2d ___ (July 19, 2007), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts invalidated the town's 1968 exercise of eminent domain since the town's taking listed the owners of the property as "owners unknown," which was not sufficient notice to the landowner.  In Brody v. Village of Port Chester, No. 00 Civ. 7481 (HB) (SDNY, July 18, 2007), a New York federal court held that a municipality wrongfully exercised eminent domain and denied the landowner procedural due process by not providing proper notice of his right to contest the taking.