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Archive | Public Purpose

October 10, 2023

Eminent Domain Was Used to Evict a Chinatown Family. Now It Might Help Them Stay Housed.

An article in the Los Angles Times describes how the Hernandez family was forced from their one-bedroom apartment in Chinatown by eminent domain for a 30-acre expansion of the Los Angeles Convention Center in 1988. Now, eminent domain could actually keep the Hernandez family housed. The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously in 2021 to explore the use of eminent domain to acquire Hillside Villa, a 124-unit apartment complex in Chinatown where Mrs. Hernandez has lived for 30 years with her husband, daughter and now grandson.  Her apartment building’s affordability… read more

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Posted in Condemnation, Eminent Domain, Public Purpose
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January 12, 2023

A Very Rare Win – Matter of Bowers Dev. LLC v Oneida County Indus. Dev. Agency. But, It Ain’t Over Until It’s Over.

The Fourth Department handed down a Christmas present on December 23, 2022 granting a petition filed pursuant to Section 207 of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law (EDPL) to annul the determination of the Oneida County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) to condemn certain real property. Before we dive into the case, let’s discuss EDPL Sec. 207, the exclusive procedure in New York to challenge a condemnation. Authorizing and Challenging the Condemnation Article 2 of New York’s Eminent Domain Procedure Law sets forth the prescribed way that property is to be acquired… read more

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Posted in Blight, Condemnation, EDPL Sec. 207, Power of Condemnation, Public Purpose
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July 20, 2021

Kelo Remains Untouched

The US Supreme Court denied a request to hear an appeal of a Chicago landowner whose property was condemned by the City to allow the expansion of the Bloomer Chocolate Company on June 25, 2021. The property owner took issue with the high court’s 2005 Kelo v City of New London decision, which said that local governments have the ability to take away private property for economic development use.  Three Justices, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch said the Court should have heard the case, one shy of the… read more

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Posted in Kelo, Public Purpose
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May 11, 2021

When A Park Just Isn’t A Park

We represent Brinkmann Hardware Corp. which owns a wooded lot in Mattituck, Suffolk County.  The family-owned business operates four hardware stores across Long Island.  The Town of Southold has used every trick to prevent the construction of the Mattituck hardware store, including imposing a nonsense moratorium. Southold lost every round in Court, so what does it do when it cannot stop construction, authorize condemning the land. The Institute for Justice filed suit in Federal District Court to stop the condemnation alleging a violation of due process and the Fifth Amendment. … read more

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Posted in Condemnation, Park, Public Purpose, Public Use, Uncategorized
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May 6, 2019

PUBLIC USE MEANS JUST ABOUT ANY USE

          Arguing that the project will benefit a private party and that the proposed condemnation will there by violate the constitutional restraints against the condemning private party to give another private party will fail as long as it could be said the public purpose is dominant.  See Waldo’s, Inc. v Vill. Of Johnson City, 74 NY2d 718, 720 (1989); see also Yonkers Cmty. Dev. Agency v Morris, 27 NY2d 478, 482 (1975).           Virtually any purpose will be acceptable including the condemnation of a historic waterfront for a shopping mall… read more

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Posted in Public Benefit, Public Purpose, Public Use, Uncategorized
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