Real Estate & Property Law

Government's Brief In Hawaii Eminent Domain Abuse Case: Pretext, Actual Purposes, And Private Benefit

Posted on January 22, 2010
The County of Hawaii has filed its Answering Brief in the latest phase of County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P'ship, two condemnation cases arising out of the County's attempts to take a Kona family's property. The brief...

Developer's Brief In Hawaii Eminent Domain Abuse Case: Pretext, Actual Purposes, And Private Benefit

Posted on January 22, 2010
The developer in the two condemnation cases arising out of the County of Hawaii's attempts to take a Kona family's property has filed its Answering Brief in the latest phase of County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P'ship....

New Paper On Washington State's Approach To Nollan/Dolan Exactions - Do Generalized Assessments Satisfy The "Essential Nexus" Test?

Posted on January 21, 2010
My Pacific Legal Foundation colleagues Brian Hodges and Daniel Himebaugh have posted a new paper on Nollan/Dolan exactions: Have Washington Courts Lost Essential Nexus to the Precautionary Principle? - Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights v. Sims, available on SSRN here...

New SCOTUS Cert Petition From Kauai: Is Surrender Clause In State Lease A Taking?

Posted on January 20, 2010
Recently, the owners of vacation cabins located on leased land in a state park on the island of Kauai filed a cert petition which asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review an unpublished decision of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of...

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New Article On Florida Beach Judicial Takings Case

Posted on January 19, 2010
The most recent edition of State & Local Law News has an article summarizing the arguments in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009). That case, which has been...

The Latest On Eminent Domain In New York From The NY Times

Posted on January 19, 2010
The New York Times' "Square Feet" column today posted "Lessons on Limits of Eminent Domain at Columbia," about the recent decision in Kaur v. New York State Urban Dev. Corp., 2009 NY Slip Op 08976 (Dec. 3, 2009). In that...

Motions For Reconsideration In ICA Accretion Taking Appeal

Posted on January 17, 2010
Both parties have asked the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals to take another look at its opinion in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii, No. 28175 (Dec. 30, 2009). In that case, the court held (1) the...

New Cert Petition: Can A Littoral Owner Be Liable For Trespass When The Shoreline Erodes, Placing Lawful Structures In The Water?

Posted on January 15, 2010
Many years ago I got a parking ticket, my first. Here's the story: when I left the car, it was a legal space, no meter. In the few hours I was away, the city public works department had erected a...

Two New Books On Eminent Domain

Posted on January 14, 2010
Check it out: two recently-published books on eminent domain. We've not had a chance to read either one yet, but they both look promising: Before Eminent Domain: Toward a History of Expropriation of Land for the Common Good by Susan...

"At the start of this project, my company announced that it would try to avoid the use of eminent domain"

Posted on January 13, 2010
This probably isn't the phrasing you should use if you are trying to convince others that you are not a "politically connected developer" who got the government to exercise eminent domain on your behalf. "Atlantic Yards project was not properly...

2009 Land Use In Review: The Supreme Court's "Ceded Lands" Decision - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Posted on January 13, 2010
The biggest Hawaii-related case of the year that was not just a local story was the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the "ceded lands" case, Hawaii v. Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 129 S. Ct. 1463 (Mar. 31, 2009). [Disclosure: we...

2009 Land Use In Review: The Three Lessons From Hawaii Superferry

Posted on January 10, 2010
No doubt about it, the biggest Hawaii-centric land use related story this year was the continuing saga of the Hawaii Superferry. The case resulted in above-the-fold headlines, blogs devoted to the issue, and at least two trips to the Hawaii...

Upcoming Teleconference On Land Use Exactions

Posted on January 09, 2010
Next Tuesday (January 12, 2010) from 1-2pm Eastern Time, I'll be speaking at a teleconference on land use exactions for members of the International Municipal Lawyers Association. I'll be the guest of nationally-renown land use law experts Professor Dan Mandelker...

Preacquisition Regulations Depressing Value And The "Scope Of The Project" Rule

Posted on January 08, 2010
Most of the buzz these days about eminent domain is about the "public use" side of the equation -- whether a condemor can take property, and the legitimacy of its professed reasons for doing so. Today, however, the U.S. Supreme...

Hawaii Courts Now On Twitter

Posted on January 08, 2010
The Hawaii Judiciary is now on Twitter. It looks like it will cover opinions from the Supreme Court and Intermediate Court of Appeals, as well as other judiciary news. Check it out here.

Minnesota Supreme Court Hearing Eminent Domain Delegation Appeal

Posted on January 06, 2010
The Minnesota Supreme Court today heard oral arguments in Eagan Economic Development Authority v. U-Haul Company of Minnesota. The case asks from where a redevelopment authority derives its eminent domain power. We digested the court of appeals' decision here...

Balkanizing The Beach: The Practical Consequences Of Maunaula Bay Beach Ohana 28

Posted on January 05, 2010
This post deals with the practical impacts of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals' recent decision in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii, No. 28175 (Dec. 30, 2009). [Disclosure: we filed an amicus brief supporting the property...

2009 Land Use In Review

Posted on January 04, 2010
Another year -- another decade -- has come and gone, so it's time to launch our annual summary of the highlights in land use law and other topics covered on the blog. 2009 seems to have passed without a dramatic...

Hawaii Court Of Appeals: Legislative Grab Of The Right To Beachfront Accretion Is Not A Taking

Posted on January 01, 2010
Can the legislature adopt a law mandating that from here forward, upon an owner's death, all of her property escheats to the State? Yes, according to the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals. Because the property is not "vested" in future...

HAWICA: No "Vested Right" To Beachfront Accretion

Posted on December 30, 2009
This just in: the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals has issued an opinion in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii, No. 28175, a case we recently analyzed here. We conclude that (1) Plaintiffs and the class they...

Mark Your Calendars 2/25/2010: ABA CLE On McDonald Case

Posted on December 30, 2009
On February 25, 2010, from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Eastern (12:30 CT, 11:30 a.m. MT, 10:30 PT, and 8:30 HST), my colleague and law partner Mark Murakami will be moderating a teleconference sponsored by the ABA Section of State and...

Cal Supremes: Denial Of CUP For Private Airport Not A "Project" Requiring Environmental Review

Posted on December 29, 2009
Here's one for all you CEQA mavens. The California Supreme Court has determined that a denial of a conditional use permit to operate a private airport south of Sacramento is not a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act. Sunset...

Favorite Property Quotes

Posted on December 27, 2009
The holiday brings "light blogging" as they say, so instead of a substantive post, we're listing some of our favorite quotations about property rights, eminent domain, and the like. Have any of your own? Send them, and I'll post. Such...

Office Swag Contest Part III

Posted on December 24, 2009
For those of you stuck in the office today, our annual Christmas Eve contest: I'll send to the first three people who email me today their very own "limited edition" of my firm's extra-large, cobalt blue coffee mug, shown below....

Taking Accretion By Legal Erosion: Summary Of The Oral Arguments In The Hawaii Beach Takings Case (Podcast)

Posted on December 22, 2009
With all that has been going on lately (SCOTUS arguments in the judicial takings case, New York's courts issuing two big eminent domain decisions, etc.), we haven't had the opportunity to summarize the oral argument in a very important Hawaii...

Life, And Eminent Domain, Imitiate The Clancy Brothers

Posted on December 21, 2009
Last year, Professor Gideon Kanner tuned us in to a folk song apropos of eminent domain, "They're Moving Father's Grave to Build a Sewer" by the Clancy Brothers (sadly, earlier this month we lost Liam, the last of the Clancy...

That's One Way To Battle Eminent Domain...

Posted on December 21, 2009
We don't normally post press releases (except our own, natch), but this one jumped out for its uniqueness. Georgia property owners who object to the taking of their store and land are trying to sell their property to "anyone and...

Yet Another Way To Battle Eminent Domain...

Posted on December 21, 2009
Trying to stop a taking of your property? You may have options in addition to a "public use" challenge, as was recently noted here. In this video, Albany Law School's Amy Lavine details a potential problem with the bonds for...

HAWSCT To Hear Pretext And Private Benefit Appeal

Posted on December 21, 2009
Today, the Hawaii Supreme Court filed this Order Granting and Accepting Application for Transfer (Dec. 21, 2009), in County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P'ship, transferring the appeal from the Intermediate Court of Appeals. [Disclosure: my Damon Key...

New Book - Takings International: A Comparative Perspective on Land Use Regulations and Compensation Rights

Posted on December 18, 2009
Next month, the ABA Section of State & Local Government Law will be publishing a book by Professor Rachelle Alterman, Takings International: A Comparative Perspective on Land Use Regulations and Compensation Rights: Everywhere in the world, land use law and...

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