Smart

Plaintiff owner of a vacant parcel of land located near Los Angeles International Airport, brought an action for inverse condemnation and nuisance against the City of Los Angeles (City) based on a reduction in value of the property resulting from the overflight of jet aircraft. By stipulation the trial was bifurcated and the issue of liability was tried first. The City stipulated that the plaintiff, in fact, had suffered damages.

The trial court found that the cause of action for inverse condemnation was barred due to the running of the applicable statute of limitations period and that federal preemption of the field of regulating navigable air space precluded a cause of action for nuisance. Judgment was entered in favor of City. We reverse.

The property involved has been owned by members of plaintiff’s family since the turn of the century. Plaintiff inherited it from his father in 1971. The land lies under the landing path approaching the south runway at Los Angeles International Airport, which runway has been used primarily for jet aircraft since 1959.

In 1960, a home situated on the property was burned to the ground and the land has remained vacant ever since. In…