County of San Diego v. Rancho Vista Del Mar, Inc.

The primary issue presented by this case is whether a property owner whose land is condemned for a jail may value his property based on a highest and best use as a private detention facility. We conclude the answer is no and therefore reverse.

Facts

The property here is a parcel of about 525 acres of primarily vacant, undeveloped property in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego County. About 200 acres had a grade change of less than 25 percent and were considered “usable”; the remaining land had a grade change of over 25 percent. The property was zoned as a holding zone for future residential development requiring minimum lot sizes of two to twenty acres depending on the percentage of slope on the particular lot. Access to the property was on a graded dirt road. The property lacked a sewer connection.

Roque De La Fuente bought the property at a bankruptcy sale as part of a larger parcel of about 3,900 acres bought in 1982 for $13 million. He believed he was purchasing the property for 20 to 30 percent of its true value. At the time he bought the property, the State of California was interested in locating a state prison in the Otay Mesa area. De La Fuente offered to sell…