The arrival of spring heralds the end of the regular session for Virginia’s legislature. While the General Assembly will return for a veto session in a few weeks (and may be forced to return for a special session if budget issues are not ironed out), the end of the regular session is a good opportunity [...]
[This blog post is based on an interview of Mayor Stephen Adler from Episode 60 of the Infrastructure Junkies podcast. For a full replay of the recording, listen here. Those familiar with me in the eminent domain/ right-of-way industry know that my cynicism towards many landowner attorneys runs deep and wide. We who represent condemning [...]
[For a more involved examination of this book check out the discussion with the author on the Infrastructure Junkies podcast.] One of the things that makes this nation such a wonderful place to live is our fabulous infrastructure system. We have reliable electricity, running water, sewage, cable TV, safe and reliable airlines, rails and roads [...]
Chances are, you’ve never heard of Craig’s Creek. It’s a small stream—barely a trickle when compared to the creeks in eastern Virginia—nestled in the mountains of Craig County. It serves as a tributary of the James River and as a venue for kayakers but not much else. It is crossed by a few road bridges [...]
The Virginia General Assembly has now adjourned its regular session, and both bills that were previously described on this blog have survived, though in modified form. The changes to Senate Bill 666, previously discussed here, and Senate Bill 694, previously discussed here, will be discussed in more detail below. Senate Bill 666 The primary modification [...]
A bill currently pending before the Virginia General Assembly would drastically increase the cost of public infrastructure projects by increasing condemning authorities’ liability for lost access and lost profits. The ominously numbered Senate Bill 666 accomplishes this by changing the definitions of those terms in the eminent domain statutes in a way that would greatly [...]
Given that this is a blog about eminent domain law, it should come as no surprise that the answer to the headline’s question is related to state property law. Until recently, both labor organizers and hunting dogs—or, more accurately, hunters who hunt with dogs—were beneficiaries of laws in different states that permitted them to access [...]
Williams v. Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 5376 *1 (2021) reviewed whether a Texas trial court had proper subject matter jurisdiction to hear, inter alia, a takings claim under Texas law. Specifically, the court reviewed “whether [the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority’s (“GBRA”) decisions regarding operations of [] hydro dams resulted in particularized injuries to [...]
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion on Penneast Pipeline Co., v. New Jersey on June 29, 2021. In its 5-4 decision, one surprisingly not split across party lines, the Court addressed whether it is constitutional for the Federal Government to grant a pipeline company authority to condemn necessary rights-of-way in which a State [...]
Those of us in the right of way industry get a constant earful about the horrors of our profession. Politicians, members of the media and property rights activists all decry the concept of “eminent domain,” yet frequently ignore the importance of this tool to our economic vitality. A strong economy, jobs, and ultimately paychecks begin [...]