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July 2025

Kelo site Ft Trumbull
Over there is where the “little pink house” was.
July 26, 2025.

Regular readers know that from time to time, we make what we call property or takings pilgrimages to the sites of famous cases. Inter alia: Kaiser Aetna, Nollan, Dolan, Loretto, Penn Central, Hadacheck, the High Line, Boomer.

Included in that are eminent domain cases of course, including Chicago Burlington, and Berman. 

With the recent 20th anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London just past, we thought it appropriate to revisit the site when we were in the neighborhood to see what’s up and what “progress,” if any, New London has made in effecting those plans it claimed to have, which necessitated the taking of Susette Kelo’s “little pink house.” For Professor Gideon Kanner’s thoughts on “Eminent Domain Projects That Didn’t Work Out…

Continue Reading Property Rights Pilgrimage: The Kelo Property And House, Twenty Years On

Today we have a guest post by New York colleague Jennifer Polovetsky, who writes about an age-old question: what are “special benefits” that accrue to the remainder in a partial taking, and can these benefits be offset against just compensation or severance damages?  

Thanks to Jennifer (and to the New York Law Journal) for allowing us to republish her intriguing piece.

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The Not So ‘Special’ Benefit in Eminent Domain

by Jennifer Polovetsky

Article I (§7, subd. (a)) of the New York State Constitution and the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution both provide that: “Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation.” This doctrine has been upheld by the courts of this land since its inception.

In 1897, in Bauman v. Ross, the United States Supreme Court held that “the just compensation required by the Constitution to be made to the owner

…
Continue Reading Guest Post (Jennifer Polovetsky): “The Not So ‘Special’ Benefit in Eminent Domain”

Catastrophe

Check this out, a new student note published in the latest edition of the William and Mary Environmental and Policy Review, J. Cameron Niemeyer, Stopping a Cat-tastrophe: States Must Develop Stricter Management Regimes for Controlling Feral Cat Populations, 49 Wm. & Mary Env’t L. & Pol’y Rev. 739 (2025). 

Download the pdf here. 

Although this article isn’t about takings and related, the issue of feral cats can give rise to takings questions. See, for example, this post: “Hey All You Cool Cats And Kittens: Creating A Feral Cat Colony Next To Your Property Isn’t A Taking.” 

If cats and cat law isn’t necessarily your thing, we suggest reading this piece especially. It will change your mind: 

Cats are among the world’s most popular pets. Cute, cuddly, relatively easy to care for, and intelligent, cats have been part of humans’ lives for generations. In fact, the author…

Continue Reading New Article: “Stopping a Cat-tastrophe: States Must Develop Stricter Management Regimes for Controlling Feral Cat Populations,” 49 Wm. & Mary Env’t L. & Pol’y Rev. 739 (2025) (J. Cameron Niemeyer)

Readers of this blog are surely familiar with the soft spot we have in our heart for the Australian film, “The Castle.”

We described it as “Kelo Down Under,” noting that despite its comic spin, the film accurately portrays why owners of property object to eminent domain (in Australia, “compulsory acquisition“).  Eminently quotable, it captures “the vibe of the thing.” 

Which is why we’re posting this piece that declares the movie, “the best Aussie movie of all time.” Why? The piece lists the reasons why. A bit click-baity, but still a good read. 

Vibe

Post-class whiteboard graffiti,
left behind by a student a few years ago who got it.Continue Reading “There’s no doubt about it – The Castle is the best Aussie movie of all time”

TexasEmDomain2025Houston

MC: Texas is so big…

Audience: How big is it? 

MC: Texas is so big it needs two statewide eminent domain conferences!

That’s right, in addition to the Texas Eminent Domain Conference in Austin, there’s another one in Houston. We’ve attended both in the past, and can speak from experience that they are excellent.

Registration for the Houston event, August 14-15, 2025, is ongoing here. Details on speakers, topics, and related are available here. Here’s the agenda. Continue Reading Still Time To Register: 2025 Texas Eminent Domain Conference (Houston), August 14-15, 2025

Charlottesvillezoning

This interesting — and kind of funny — story has been circulating: “Judge’s ruling means Charlottesville has no zoning laws whatsoever right now.” 

What happened? Is the counter-Euclid revolution underway? Did the judge rediscover Nectow? Did Charlottesville voters decide to go Full Houston? 

No, nothing quite as dramatic. The story notes that the city’s attempt to adopt a new zoning code was held invalid. But, the story notes, the former zoning ordinance was repealed so that the new one could be adopted. With the former code ineffective and the new code invalidated … just like that, no zoning!

We haven’t checked, but we would not be surprised if the most popular search on WEXIS right now in the Blue Ridge is “Virginia /s vested /s rights or ‘estoppel.'”

In the meantime, the city has stopped processing new development applications, while claiming this is all…

Continue Reading Houston Says ‘Welcome!’ – What Happens When Another City Has No Zoning?

Here’s the latest in an issue we’ve been following for a long time.

In Jackson v. Southfield Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, No. 166320 (July 16, 2025), the Michigan Supreme Court re-confirmed its ruling in Rafaeli v. Oakland County, that the government “keeping the change” after liquidating property to satisfy a delinquent tax debt is a taking, rejecting the claim that transferring the property to a non-governmental organization does not relieve the government of its obligation to provide compensation. 

There’s a lot going on here, and we’re not wading into too much detail both because it is one of ours, but also because this one is Michigan-specific. But we will say that this case is a good example of a court viewing things pragmatically, and calling out government action that seeks to work around a constitutional ruling. 

Here’s the heart of the court’s holding:

In this case, the operative…

Continue Reading Michigan: Gov’t Can’t Avoid A Rafaeli Taking Just By Having A Proxy Do It

In City of Dallas v. Dallas Short-Term Rental Alliance, No. 05-23-01309-CV (July 18, 2025), the Texas Court of Appeals affirmed a preliminary injunction, suspending operation of two ordinances which (1) restrict, and (2) require registration of short-term rentals in Dallas.

It’s a short opinion and up on appeal from interlocutory emergency relief, so there isn’t a ton there. But it is still worth reading because the court concludes the challengers have a likelihood of eventually showing that the ordinance restricting short-term renting violates “due-course-of-law” (aka substantive due process). Texas recognizes a property right in leasing property, and the owners here asserted they have a vested right to do so:

Under the circumstances, we conclude appellees Dallas Short Term-Rental Alliance, Sammy Aflalo, Vera Elkins, and Denise Lowry proved their probable right to relief against the City’s zoning ordinance under their due-course-of-law argument because they alleged they possessed well-established rights to…

Continue Reading Tex App: Challengers Likely To Succeed On Due Course Of Law Claim For Short-Term Rental Ban

Say hello to the country music duo The Doohickeys. They have a great sound (both country and western). Check ’em out!

With such songs as “All Hat, No Cattle” (the title track of their latest album), “I Wish My Truck Was Bigger,” “This Town Sucks,” “Rein It In Cowboy,” “Too Ugly to Hitchhike,” and “City Folk. 

Above is a parody ad for a rural eminent domain lawyer, something they are familiar with. (Or at least we assume its a parody ad.)

And this, the song by which we first learned of them, “Farm Lawyer,” about singer Haley Spence Brown’s dad, Ward Brown, a Missouri eminent domain lawyer and colleague. 

But one day a man came knockin’ in a fancy pinstripe suit.
He said “I got a note here from the government, and …

Continue Reading The Doohickeys – Eminent Domain Country & Western

Euclidsymposium

With the 100th anniversary of Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. nearly upon us in 2026, we’ve put together a series of events designed to reexamine the case that set the stage for a century’s-worth of intense land use regulations and restrictions.

Are Euclid‘s assumptions and conclusions still valid? If the original separation-of-uses and nuisance-prevention rationale of zoning made sense, does that rationale apply when “zoning” has become the shorthand for extremely granular regulation of property’s uses? What of the role of judicial review and a return to Nectowian review? 

Our Euclid series begins with a call for papers, and a follow-up conference at which these articles will be presented and discussed. For more, see the call for papers: “Euclid Turns 100: Rethinking an Antiquated Case and Reimagining Euclidean Zoning for the Century Ahead.” The link also has a few suggestions about…

Continue Reading Call For Papers: “Euclid Turns 100: Rethinking an Antiquated Case and Reimagining Zoning for the Century Ahead”