L. A. Cnty. Metro. Transp. Auth. v. Yum Yum Donut Shops, Inc.

*665 Plaintiff Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) sued defendant Yum Yum Donut Shops, Inc. (Yum Yum) in eminent domain to take 1 one of Yum Yum's donut shops that was in the path of a proposed rail line. Yum Yum sought compensation for the loss of goodwill resulting from that taking under Code of Civil Procedure section 1263.510 ( section 1263.510 ). 2 Under that statute, a condemnee must establish in a court trial entitlement to goodwill, including whether the loss of goodwill cannot be prevented by relocating or making other reasonable mitigation efforts. It is that condition to entitlement that is the subject of this appeal. If the condemnee meets the entitlement threshold in section 1263.510, *204 section 1263.510 further provides for a jury trial to determine the value of the loss of goodwill.

The trial court concluded Yum Yum was not entitled to compensation for goodwill because Yum Yum unreasonably refused to relocate the shop to one of three sites MTA proposed at the entitlement trial. The undisputed expert testimony elicited at trial, however, established Yum Yum would lose some of the donut shop's goodwill even if Yum Yum relocated the shop…