City of Los Angeles v. Superior Court

Petitioner City of Los Angeles (the City) sought writ review of the trial court’s grant of real parties in interest’s motion for summary adjudication. The court found that the City’s creation of “condemnation blight” obligated the City to pay compensation to real parties in interest in their action for inverse condemnation. To support their motion, real parties in interest, who own properties located near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), established that the City has been buying properties in their neighborhoods through voluntary acquisition, relocating the residents and demolishing the structures, leaving the land vacant. Real parties in interest did not, however, establish that the City had a plan to use the land acquired for a public purpose or that it intended to acquire their properties or any other properties in the area through condemnation. Accordingly, we conclude that real parties in interest failed to establish entitlement to summary adjudication on their inverse condemnation claim.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The Complaint

In July 2009, real parties in interest Peter Plotkin, M&M Plotkin Enterprises, L.P., George Zayats, Jr., Genevieve…