Sean Hao at the the Honolulu Advertiser reports “Land prices for Hawaii rail route jump $100 million since 2006,” with the lede: “Honolulu real estate prices are expected to fall over the next threeyears, but the estimated cost of acquiring land to build Honolulu’selevated commuter train is going up.” Indeed, the City’s estimate
Eminent Domain | Condemnation
Pretext In Eminent Domain: Law Of The Land On The Coupe Opinion
By Robert H. Thomas on
Dean Patty Salkin’s Law of the Land blog posts James Lawlor’s summary of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s decision in County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P’ship, 119 Haw. 352, 198 P.3d 615 (2008), “Court Must Decide If Public Purpose Claimed for Road Was Pretextual.”
The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled a…
New Article: Is Eminent Domain Reform Just Window Dressing?
By Robert H. Thomas on
A new article from the ABA Journal “Where’s the Revolution” about whether post-Kelo reforms of eminent domain law have any real effect on the law. According to the summary of the article on the Geo. Mason U. law school web site:
Despite the fact that the Supreme Court’s 5-4 vote in Kelo…
Two Interesting Eminent Domain Decisions
By Robert H. Thomas on
Posted in Eminent Domain | Condemnation, Public Use | Kelo
Our thanks to Dwight Merriam for letting us know about these two decisions.
- Gold v. Town of East Haddam, No. 18067 (Conn. Mar. 24, 2009) – On one hand, this is a fairly straightforward summary judgment case: are material facts disputed such that a trial is merited? On the other, it involves the question
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Tuesday Round-Up: Forced Farming, Tax Or Taking, RLUIPA Loophole
Several items of interest:
- California Coastal Commission: “You must farm” – As a condition of allowing a Northern California family to build a home, the California Coastal Commission demanded that they dedicate an “agricultural easement” on their 143-acre parcel. In other words, as a condition of use, the Commission requires a family that has never
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Links From Today’s ABA Teleconference: Hot Topics In Land Use Law 2009
Thank you to those who were able to join us live for today’s teleconference. Here are the links to the additional cases and other items I mentioned (or wanted to mention) in my session on Public Use and Pretext Update:
- Proving Eminent Domain Pretext In Serial Takings – County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe
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Links From ABA Condemnation Hot Topics Teleconference
Thank you to those who were able to join us live for today’s teleconference. Here are the links to the additional cases and other items I mentioned (or wanted to mention) in my session on Public Use and Pretext Update:
- Might Makes Blight In The New York Appellate Division – Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn
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Book Review: Little Pink House, Eminent Domain – Time To Change The Law
By Robert H. Thomas on
Our thanks to Robert S. Poliner, the Connecticut Ombudsman for Property Rights for permitting us to republish his review of Jeff Benedict’s Little Pink House – A True Story of Defiance and Courage (Grand Central Publishing 2009) (available from Amazon here), the recently published book about the infamous U.S. Supreme Court eminent domain…
Upcoming ABA Condemnation, Land Use Teleconferences
There’s still time to register for two teleconferences that are a part of the ABA State and Local Government Section’s “Virtual Spring Meeting.” I hope you can join us for at least one of the programs.
- Wednesday, April 1, 2:00 – 3:30 pm, EDT: Condemnation Hot Topics – The program will examine new and important
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More On Pretext In Eminent Domain
Following up on this story, West Hawaii Today reports “Attorneys argue against Supreme Court ruling on bypass,” about whether a second attempt to condemn property ostensibly for a road ispretextual when the court determined the first attempt was unconstitutional and nothing changed:
Attorneys for the Richards family and theCoupe Trust, in documents…