Eminent Domain Law

In landowners' action to recover damages for inverse condemnation, the city appealed from Supreme Court's denial of its summary judgment motion. The Appellate Division reversed, holding that the action was time-barred.

Landowners own three nonadjacent parcels in Staten Island's Long Pond Park Preserve. By 1954, the city had acquired all of the lots which surround two of the three parcels now owned by landowners. Landowners purchased their property in 1994. In 2006, the city began acquiring all of the properties within the Preserve. In that year, the city's department of parks and recreation informed landowner of a determination approving the department's acquisition of their parcels. Ten years later, landowners' lawyer inquired about the status of the acquisition and was told that the properties were "on our list to be acquired." Three years later, in 2019, the lawyer again inquired and was told that the properties were on a list of potential acquisitions and that no funding was secured yet. Landowners then brought this action seeking damages for inverse condemnation. They contended that the city's failure to acquire the properties, while also failing to provide for ingress and egress, constituted a taking for public use. The city moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, but Supreme Court denied the motion. The city appealed.