Blog – Page 4 – West USA Realty

Land Use and Zoning Practices

Many property owners do not give zoning ordinances a second thought after they buy their homes, businesses, or plots of land. They continue with their normal lives until these ordinances somehow impact their ownership and...

Options for Zoning Relief

Urban planners and government leaders are tasked with making a city a pleasant, safe, and practical place to live. They satisfy this important goal by using zoning ordinances to lay out the terms for which...

Zoning

Municipal authorities are tasked with deciding how their cities should be divided among commercial and private land owners. These divisions, created through a set of ordinances called zoning laws, enhance the function and appearance of...

How the Government Takes Property

As the population of a community grows, it is only natural that utilities and other government services must expand to meet the increase in demand. If possible, most municipalities try to use the land and...

The Taking of Property for Public Use

The taking of property for public use sounds like something out of a novel or a Hollywood movie, but it is a genuine concept that is built in to the United States Constitution. Accordingly, it...

What is a “Taking”

The concept of “taking” as it relates to eminent domain actions is not always as simple as the transfer of property ownership from a private party to a government agency. In fact, sometimes no tangible...

Public Use Requirement

Ostensibly, the government is not empowered to seize property for just any purpose. The eminent domain public use requirement is meant to ensure that any land, real estate or other property that the government takes...

Eminent Domain Actions

The mere existence of eminent domain laws is enough to make most people wary. The knowledge that a federal, state or local government entity could swoop in and “take” private property is certainly unsettling. While...