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Hoboken Property Freed from "In Need Of Rehabilitation" Designation
The historic Neumann Leather building sits on Observer Highway in Hoboken and long ago ceased operating as a tannery. Its industrial zoning clearly outmoded in today’s Hoboken. As recounted by the Hudson Reporter, residential and commercial developers have been salivating over the property for years, but the City has refused to modify the zoning to... Read More
Summary Judgment Affirmed Where Causation Supplied by Net Opinion
A New Jersey appellate court recently affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment dismissing a negligence action where plaintiff’s theory of causation was only supported with an expert’s net opinion. Sayta Sankalp, LLC v. Five Star Auction (opinion here). In the case, plaintiff sued defendant for damages to real property caused by fire. The parties were... Read More
City of Pasadena Potentially Liable for Property Damage Caused by Its Trees
On August 14, 2014, the Second Appellate District Court of Appeal of California issued its landmark decision in City of Pasadena v. Superior Court of Califorina (Docket BC491467). The case arose out of a windstorm that occurred in November 2011. A City owned tree fell and damaged a residence insured by Mercury Casualty Company, which paid $293,000... Read More
NJ Supreme Court: Condemnor Has No Duty to Negotiate with Holder of Mortgage
The New Jersey Supreme Court answered in the negative the question whether a condemnor must negotiate in good faith with a mortgage holder that has obtained a foreclosure judgment pre-commencement of a condemnation action. Borough of Merchantville v. Malik & Son, LLC (opinion here). In so doing, the Court affirmed the plain letter of the... Read More
Georgia Supreme Court Halts Abandonment, Reinstates Property Owner Award
The Georgia Supreme Court recently reversed a decision of the Georgia Court of Appeals and reinstated a special master’s award of $5,187,000 in favor of the property owner for the taking of its property by eminent domain. Full text of Dillard Land Investments, LLC v. Fulton County opinion here. In short, the Supreme Court held... Read More
California Supreme Court to Review Pre-Condemnation Entry
Updating our recent entry on the Property Reserve case (here), the California Supreme Court has decided to review the Appellate Court’s finding that the Water Resource Board’s preliminary entry constituted a taking under California’s law of the eminent domain. The appellate court ruling meant that the State was going to have to pay just compensation to... Read More
California Court: Pre-condemnation Entry Statute Unconstitutional
A California appellate court recently declared its pre-condemnation entry statute unconstitutional. Property Reserve, Inc. v. Dep’t of Water Resources (JCCP No. 4594, March 13, 2014). While we are not going to recount all the details of the comprehensive opinion here, the State was seeking access to private property pre-condemnation in connection with a proposed tunnel... Read More
Appeals Court: Hearing Was Required Regarding Impact of Wetlands
On May 6, 2014, the Appellate Division published its opinion in New Jersey Transit v. Mori (Docket No. A-0122-12T4). The case involved acquisition of property impacted by wetlands regulated by the Army Corps of Engineers. Plaintiff’s estimate of compensation for the one acre (out of fourteen) partial taking was $61,000 given the presence of wetlands... Read More
Netherlands v State – Regulatory Taking Denied
“The State may not put so potent a Hobbesian stick into the Lockean bundle.” Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606, 627 (2001). That was the United States Supreme Court’s response thirteen years ago to Rhode Island’s argument that property owners could claim no loss from legislation shaping and defining property rights enacted prior to... Read More
Update – "House of Cards" Legislation Not Passed
As reported by the Washington Post here, a bill that would have increased the annual “tax credit” budget for production companies filming in Maryland (like Netflix’s House of Cards and HBO’s Veep) from $15M to $18.5M failed to pass last week in Maryland’s General Assembly. The fate of House of Cards filming in Maryland remains... Read More
