Case Summaries

Utah Court of Appeals 2020 UT App 174 (December 31, 2020) The Utah Court of Appeals upheld the Town’s denial of a conditional use permit for a parking under the Town’s standard that the proposed use not “unreasonably interfere with the lawful use of surrounding properties.” The Court of Appeals found that the Town had not misinterpreted “lawful use” to...

Utah Supreme Court 2020 UT 68 (October 22, 2020) The Utah Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of claims for inverse condemnation as barred by the statute of limitations. Background: Over 20 years ago, Duchesne County law enforcement seized property–including vehicles, guns, family photographs, and ammunition–belonging to Pinders, the appellants, as part of a murder investigation of their son. Most of...

Utah Court of Appeals October 16, 2020 2020 UT App 139 (Click for full text) The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of Salt Lake City’s condemnation case seeking to acquire air rights over defendants’ property as an avigation easement in connection for a runway for one of its airports. While the Court held that the City had extraterritorial...

2020 UT 58 (August 17, 2020) The Utah Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision that UDOT’s condemnation of land to mitigate environmental impacts of a transportation project was made under proper authority, regardless that the decision to condemn resulted from a settlement agreement to litigation over the project. The Court additionally reversed the lower court’s decision that the project’s...

Utah Court of Appeals 2020 UT App 108 (July 16, 2020) The Utah Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s denial of a boundary by acquiescence claim that concluded the landowner could not have acquiesced to a fence as a boundary because the landowner’s intent was that the fence be built for animal containment and not as a boundary.  In...

Utah Supreme Court 2020 UT 35 (Click for full text of opinion) On direct appeal, the Utah Supreme Court reversed a district court holding that a party may not rely on post-valuation facts and circumstances to prove severance damages. Damages for a taking are to be assessed as of the date of the taking. The measure of damages is market...

Utah Court of Appeals May 21, 2020 2020 UT App 79 (Click for full text) ***Subsequent history: The Utah Supreme Court granted review of this decision and issued an opinion that reversed a part of this ruling. Please see Northern Monticello Alliance v. San Juan County, 2022 UT 10 (“NMA I”); Further proceedings following that opinion also led to another...

2020 UT 29 (May 18, 2020) Background. Owners of undeveloped land located outside of the incorporated boundaries of Salt Lake City (the “city”), but within the city’s approved water-service area, sought to have the city provide water services.  The city, disputing its obligation to provide water to a subdivision not within its boundaries, brought declaratory action to determine the landowners’...

2020 UT 23 (May 8, 2020) Subsequent history at SRB Investment v. Spencer (SRB II), 2023 UT App 120 Background. SRB Investment Co. (SRB) purchased property to use as a cabin vacation spot for its members. Access to the property by prescriptive easement across the Spencer property had been established by the previous owner for ranching and farming purposes. When...

2020 UT 22 (May 8, 2020) Background. Since August 1996 a family used a road that went across a neighboring property, to access their cabin property. In June 2016, the landowner of the neighboring property told the family that they could no longer use the road and attempted to block access to it. However, the family continued to use the...