Farmer’s New World Life Insurance Co. v. Bountiful City

A property owner may bring an inverse condemnation action if property is taken or damaged without a formal exercise of an agency’s eminent domain authority.

Takings claims under the Utah Constitution are self-executing, and not limited by the Governmental Immunity Act.

Damages recoverable under Article I, § 22 of the Utah Constitution must be physical and permanent, continuous, or recurring.

Recoverable damages are limited to those injuries which are the direct and unavoidable consequence of the construction or use of the improvement, or which arise from the proper and careful operation of the improvement.

Inverse condemnation damages are limited to those arising out of the public use, and do not include injuries caused by accident or negligent operation of the use.

The essential inquiry in a damaging or inverse condemnation claim is whether the injury to the property is in the nature of tortious interference or if it rises to the magnitude of an appropriation of a property right permanently to the use of the public.

Full Text of Farmers New World Life Insurance Co. v. Salt Lake City