Property Law & Real Estate Case Summaries

[01/27] Matter of Meruelo Maddux Properties, Inc.
In Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings involving the question whether the debtor was subject to the single asset real estate provisions of the Bankruptcy Code, the district court's holding that the single asset real estate provisions applied is affirmed, where: 1) the debtor, which existed solely to operate a 92-unit apartment complex, could be characterized as a single asset real estate debtor under the Bankruptcy Code; 2) the plain language of the Code gives no basis for a "whole business enterprise" exception to single asset real estate debtor status that would allow the court to consider parent corporation and sister subsidiaries; and 3) the district court did not err in its approach to granting relief from the automatic stay by leaving questions about whether the debtor timely took timely corrective action to the bankruptcy court in the first instance.

[01/25] Otay Mesa Property, L.P. v. US
On appeal from a decision of the United States Court of Federal Claims awarding plaintiffs $3,043,051, plus interest, for the temporary taking of a blanket easement over five parcels of land and limiting the government's liability to the taking of an easement over those five parcels and limiting the period of the taking to April of 1999 to October of 2008, the judgment is affirmed in part and vacated in part, where: 1) the Claims Court erred when it concluded that the government's taking of the easement was a temporary rather than a permanent physical taking, resulting in an erroneous calculation of the plaintiffs' damages; and 2) the Claims Court did not err in limiting the government's liability.

[01/25] General Development Co., L.P. v. City of Santa Maria
On appeal from a judgment of dismissal entered in favor of the City of Santa Maria after the trial court ruled that a developer's petition for writ of mandate was time barred by Government Code section 65009 for failure to timely challenge the denial of a zone change, judgment is affirmed, where the trial court did not err in ruling that City's denial of the developer's rezoning application was a "decision of a legislative body to adopt or amend a zoning ordinance" within the meaning of section 65009.

[01/20] Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation v. County of El Dorado
In a case arising from the County of El Dorado's adoption of an oak woodland management plan and mitigation fee program without an environmental impact report (EIR), the district court's judgment in favor of the county is reversed, where: 1) the county could not rely on an earlier program EIR for its conclusion that the adoption of the plan and fee program would have no greater adverse environmental effect than that already anticipated in the program EIR, and its adoption of a negative declaration; and 2) the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) required a tiered EIR to be conducted prior to the county's adoption of the plan and fee program.

[01/19] Hearts Bluff Game Ranch, Inc. v. US
In a suit for just compensation under the Fifth Amendment for an alleged taking based on the Army Corps of Engineers' denial of a landowner's proposal to operate a "mitigation bank" on its property, the Court of Federal Claims' dismissal for failure to state a claim is affirmed, where the Claims Court did not err in holding that the landowner did not possess a legally cognizable Fifth Amendment property interest in a mitigation bank instrument.

[01/19] Western States Petroleum Ass'n v. State Board of Equalization
In an action for declaratory relief seeking to invalidate a regulation of the State Board of Equalization (SBE) that adopted new valuation formulas for petroleum refineries, the trial court's judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on cross-motions for summary judgment is affirmed, where: 1) the trial court did not err in declaring the regulation to be inconsistent with Rev. and Tax. Code section 51(d); and 2) the trial court did not err in ruling that SBE's economic impact statement did not comply with requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act.

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