The Taking (I Mean Donating) of Land

On today’s show we are talking about government taking land from you with what appears to be no compensation.

The concept of eminent domain is well entrenched in real estate law. It says that government can demand your land in exchange for just compensation if the taking of that land is in the public interest.

For example, if the public good is served by building a new freeway or an airport, the only way to assemble the land would be by undertaking a claim under eminent domain.

But there is another way to get the needed land, slowly over time. Increasingly cities are using this other method to get what they need without paying a single penny to get it.

They will ask you to donate the land.

Where we see this most often is when the property fronts on a major arterial or collector road.

As density increases those streets need to widen to handle more traffic. Along the way some enterprising developer realizes that this would be a good location for an apartment building and requests a zoning change.

In exchange for the increase in density, the city may ask you to donate a strip of land to the city in order to enable future widening of the road when the time comes.

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Host: Victor Menasce

email: [email protected]