Don’t miss the article by Prof. Lynda J. Oswald, entitled Can a Condemnee Regain Its Property If the Condemnor Abandons the Public Use? 39 Urban Lawyer 671 (2007). It ties in nicely with the article cited in the immediately preceding post. Whereas that one deals with the common law that governs condemnors’ failure to proceed with the public projects that were presented to the courts as the planned “public use,” Prof. Oswald goes beyond that and discusses legislative efforts to provide relief to property owners whose land is taken for “public uses” that do not materialize.
Prof. Oswald ends on an optimistic note and counsels the readers of her article to “keep a close eye on statutory and constitutional developments within their state.” That’s good advice, even if at this time that approach holds out only a limited promise of success.