Eminent Domain
The attorneys at Smith, Bundy, Bybee & Barnett, P.C., are premier eminent domain lawyers, with significant experience in all facets of eminent domain law, including direct and inverse condemnation and challenge actions. The firm has successfully handled many eminent domain matters throughout South Carolina and across the Southeast.
The eminent domain process can be complicated, and battling the state or federal government can be daunting. The government will have a team of attorneys promoting its rights. Property owners should have the same legal protection. The firm ensures that property owners understand the legal process, their rights under eminent domain law and that they must assert those rights to obtain full value for their property. With its experience, knowledge, and skill, the firm is able to challenge the government on behalf of property and business owners to obtain maximum compensation for their damages due to condemnation.
The firm’s eminent domain clients range from owners of single-family homes and large-scale residential and commercial developments, shorefront property and agricultural landowners to tenants and business owners.
In addition to direct condemnations, the firm handles inverse condemnations—when the landowner seeks compensation for the impact a government action has had on a property.
In a landmark United States Supreme Court inverse condemnation case—Lucas vs. the South Carolina Coastal Council—Mr. Smith won a trial court award of compensation for Mr. Lucas, a beachfront property owner on the Isle of Palms. His vacant lots’ property value was greatly reduced by state environmental protection regulations that prevented development of the land, despite existing development on adjacent property. The high court ultimately ruled that the state regulations amounted to a taking of the property and ordered the state to pay for it.
In addition to regulatory takings imposed by governmental zoning or other regulatory activity, if your property has its public road access limited or denied or it has been flooded by an affirmative act of the government, compensation may be awarded pursuant to the state and federal constitutions. The rules governing the right to compensation are constantly evolving and they are complex. The firm is actively involved in these cases and has the expertise to advise clients of their rights in these circumstances.
South Carolina law allows a landowner to challenge a condemnation by a governmental entity. The time limits for filing such challenges is short and the circumstances under which a successful challenge can be advanced are limited. The firm was involved in a significant reaffirmation of the principal that condemnation in South Carolina is limited to takings for public, not private, use. Mr. Bybee successfully challenged Jasper County’s attempt to take land for a multi-million-dollar port on behalf of the Georgia Department of Transportation.
