Eminent Domain Report

The contours of inverse condemnation liability are often tested by creative California plaintiff’s lawyers. In an opinion earlier this year, one Northern California Federal Court dealt with a novel lawsuit in which the Vichy Springs Resort asserted Federal and state-based inverse condemnation theories against the City of Ukiah arising out the City’s shooting range used to train its police officers (Vichy Springs Resort v. Ukiah).

According to the complaint, guests have been visiting the resort for almost two centuries to take in the curative powers of the carbonated warm ...

In 2024, in what was heralded as a big win for developers in California, the U.S. Supreme Court upended decades of California precedent and held that legislatively enacted development impact fees must satisfy the “essential nexus” and “rough proportionality” tests established in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1987) 483 U.S. 825 and Dolan v. City of Tigard (1994) 512 U.S. 374. Sheetz v. County of El Dorado (2024) 601 U.S. 267. But the Supreme Court did not decide whether the legislatively enacted fee program at issue in Sheetz actually failed to comply with ...

Planning and constructing public infrastructure projects takes significant time – sometimes many years. Property owners and businesses who may be impacted are left in a state of limbo, not knowing for sure whether the project will move forward, when it will move forward and what the ultimate impacts will be. This can make selling or leasing property problematic and it can also become difficult for businesses to plan effectively. Despite these impacts, unless public agencies engage in oppressive or unreasonable conduct or unreasonable delay, there is typically no liability for ...

Periodically, a new public project needs to acquire land that is already put to an existing public use. In order to condemn such land, the condemning entity must demonstrate that the proposed use is either a compatible use or a “more necessary public use.” If thorough due diligence is not conducted in the early project stages to identify and address impacted existing public uses, a condemning entity may later face a right to take challenge based on the position that the proposed use is not more necessary than the existing public use.

So, what uses qualify as a more necessary use?

Acquiring property for public projects typically does not occur until after the project has received environmental approval. In California, complying with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) can sometimes take years, thereby significantly delaying the right-of-way acquisition process, holding up the delivery of public infrastructure projects. With the legislature recently enacting CEQA reform, will this expedite the timing for property acquisitions and eminent domain proceedings? Maybe, depending on the project. … 

On June 24, 2025, the California Court of Appeal heard argument in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado. You may recall that the California Court of Appeal previously held that legislatively enacted development impact fees are exempt from Nollan/Dolan scrutiny, consistent with what was at the time longstanding California Supreme Court precedent. In 2024, however, the U.S. Supreme Court held that legislatively imposed exactions are not exempt from the essential nexus test established in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1987) 483 U.S. 825 or the rough proportionality test in ...

For the third year in a row, our attorneys have outlined key trends and issues shaping the water landscape in Nossaman’s California Water Views – 2025 Outlook. Topics range from the effects of climate change on water availability and infrastructure to critical updates in legislative and regulatory frameworks. The publication not only provides insight into developments at the state level but also addresses how decisions from Sacramento, Washington, DC and across the U.S. are influencing California’s water sector. … 

Every condemnation case in Texas must go through an administrative phase in which disinterested real property owners (who live in the county where the suit is filed) are appointed as Special Commissioners to assess the market value of the property being condemned and damages, if any, to the remainder property and render an Award on compensation after hearing testimony and evidence from both sides at a Special Commissioners Hearing. … 

Can a public entity be held liable for inverse condemnation when it fails to prevent another party from causing damage to private property? This one is pretty simple: the answer is no. 

In Youngsma v. City of Cypress, homeowners sued the City for inverse condemnation and public nuisance because the construction of a vehicle maintenance and repair facility on property near their homes caused significant damage. The homeowners claimed that a school district owned the property in question, and the City failed to hold any public hearings or approve of the proposed repair facility. The ...

We previously reported on the recent California Court of Appeal district split as to what standard of review should apply in utility takeover condemnation cases as it pertains to more necessary public use challenges, and specifically whether courts are to exercise independent judgment or whether a public agency’s determination is subject to substantial deference. This district split stems from the 2024 South San Joaquin Irrigation District v. PG&E case (holding that courts should exercise independent judgment) and the 2025 Town of Apple Valley v. Apple Valley Ranchos Water case (holding that courts should give deference to a public agency’s findings). …