As reported in North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, NCDOT continues to ‘strike out’ in Map Act Litigation following the N.C. Supreme Court’s unanimous Kirby v. NCDOT opinion. The North Carolina Department of Transportation filed direct condemnation actions against multiple property owners who had previously filed inverse condemnation actions. Further, these property owners received orders on Rule 12(c) Motions on the Pleadings. These orders ruled that a taking had occurred and included a scheduling order for the NCDOT to perform plats, appraisals, and deposits. The 11 dismissals of DOT condemnations follows on a previous batch of dismissals against the DOT in February. The NCDOT is appealing the initial set of dismissals. The reasoning is the DOT can’t file a second action on a prior pending action. Condemnation Actions are in rem proceedings. I-74 Northern Beltway: The area involved in these dismissals is the Eastern Leg of the Forsyth County Northern Beltway which will become part of I-74. See DOT plans https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/wsnb/ The Lawyers Weekly article is found in: http://nclawyersweekly.com/2017/06/07/judge-tosses-more-dot-direct-condemnation-actions/ (Login and subscription required). Map Act Cases Around North Carolina: So far four 2.1 judges in 4 counties have ruled on the 12c motion on the pleadings, including Pender County’s Jamestown Pender v. NCDOT case’s 12c. The Jamestown Pender 12c ruling was upheld by the NC Court of Appeals and denied certification by the NC Supreme Court. Other counties where 12c motions have been granted are Cumberland, Guilford, and Forsyth. In Wake County, the judge entered a scheduling order for plats, appraisals, and deposits. To date, no appraisals have been completed per the scheduling orders in Wake, Cumberland, Forsyth, and Guilford. Meantime, the NCDOT paid private firms $2,400,000 between April 2015 through January of 2017. The attorneys at Hendrick Bryant Nerhood Sanders & Otis LLP have spearheaded the litigation in the Map Act Corridor Cases. Call 336-723-7200 to discuss your eminent domain litigation in NC.
Eminent Domain Attorneys NC
