The California Supreme Court has agreed to review and resolve a lower (California) court split regarding the standard of review a court should apply in challenges to a government taking of a privately-owned public utility.
In Town of Apple Valley v. Apple Valley Ranchos Water, No. E078348M (Feb. 13, 2025), the California Court of Appeal held that when a privately-owner public utility objects under the California Eminent Domain Code to the public use of a governmental takeover of the utility, the court must review the Resolution of Necessity with extreme deference (gross abuse of discretion). This means the reviewing court starts off with the presumption that the resolution is valid and its conclusions are true, and that no additional evidence may be considered to counter that conclusion.
One other Court of Appeal held otherwise, and the California Supreme Court agreed to resolve the divergence of analysis. Here's the Petition for Review.
Here is the question the Supreme Court agreed to review:
When a public entity files an eminent domain action seeking to take privately held public utility property, and the owner objects to the right to take, what is the proper standard of judicial review for the trial court to apply to determine whether the property owner has rebutted the presumptions under Code of Civil Procedure sections 1245.250, subdivision (b) and 1240.650, subdivision (c)?
Note: the issue here is how the a court reviews such challenges under the statutory scheme, and not as a matter of constitutional law.
Stay tuned.
Town of Apple Valley v. Apple Valley Ranchos Water, No. E078348M (Cal. App. Feb. 13, 2025)
