Do you remember the 80’s? I sure do, Blondie sang Call Me and The Empire Strikes Back came out and we learned that Darth Vader was Luke’s father (still unbelievable nearly 40 years later)! More importantly, the First District Court of Appeal remembers the 80’s and recently referred to a decision it handed down in 1980 when ruling on an inverse condemnation claim.

Who owns an inverse condemnation claim?

In the case from this summer, Robert and Susan Simon owned property in Jacksonville that included a pond into which storm water drained. After owning the property for more than ten years, the Simons decided it was time for the City of Jacksonville to maintain the pond. The Simons filed an inverse condemnation suit against the City, claiming that the City’s drainage of water into the pond amounted to a taking of the pond. The trial court disagreed, saying that if a taking had occurred, it took place years before the Simons acquired the property. (I have talked about inverse condemnation before on this blog.)Continue Reading 1980 — still crankin’ out the hits…and the case law!