Utah Department of Transportation (DOT) initiated action for eminent domain against property owner, seeking to condemn entirety of owner’s 15-acre parcel, even though only 1.2 acres was necessary for light-rail transportation project. The District Court entered summary judgment for DOT, and owner appealed.
The Supreme Court of Utah held that:
- DOT had statutory authority to acquire, by eminent domain, property in excess of that needed for public improvement;
- DOT’s statutory authority to acquire by eminent domain land in excess of that needed for planned improvement was not limited to condemnation for specifically enumerated public uses identified in eminent domain statute;
- Canon of constitutional avoidance was not appropriate method for resolving owner’s challenge to scope of DOT’s statutory authority to acquire by eminent domain property in excess of that needed for public use; and
- Remand was required for District Court to consider in first instance owner’s claim that statute authorizing condemnation of land in excess of that needed for public use violated Takings Clauses of federal and state constitutions.