[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 passed two major eminent domain bills in its most recent term, the ominous Senate Bill 666, and the less ominously numbered but significantly more extensive Senate Bill 694. Condemning authorities, consultants, and their counsel need to be aware of these changes and to update their best practices, procedures, forms, and checklists [...]
As previously discussed, the Virginia General Assembly has passed two major eminent domain bills this term: Senate Bill 666, which primarily expands the definition of lost profits, and Senate Bill 694, which, among other things, expands liability for costs in certain situations and expands liability for lost access. Rather than sign or veto the bills [...]
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 bring about a number of changes to condemnation procedures, the most significant of which may be the requirements for temporary construction easements. Under current law, a condemning authority in a quick-take case may include temporary easements in their certificate without a set end date. Thus, [...]
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 [...]
It comes as no surprise given the current state of the affordable housing market across America, that some government entities are looking for solutions using every tool available to them, whether previously used or never tried before. Attention grabbing headlines out of Los Angeles and New York have some eminent domain lawyers wondering if [...]
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 [...]