Opinion ID: 420908
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Legality of Taking

Text: 26 Rockland asserts that the district court erred by ordering it to condemn a property interest greater than that necessary for public use. Rockland claims that the acquisition of more than an easement in the Kohl property would be wasteful and illegal and hence potentially would subject the County to a citizen's suit on these grounds. 27 We are not persuaded by this argument. Rockland has not shown that it would be liable for waste or illegality for condemning a fee interest rather than an easement. The New York courts show due deference to the state when it exercises sovereign powers: 28 In the absence of illegality, fraud, collusion, corruption or bad faith, the Court has no power to restrain the city from entering into or carrying out any agreement which it chooses to make. The terms 'waste' and 'injury', as used in the statute, comprehend only wrongful, dishonest or illegal official acts, and are not intended to subject the action of an administrative official, acting within the limits of his authority and jurisdiction, to the scrutiny and control of a judicial tribunal. 29 Hanrahan v. Corrou, 12 N.Y.S.2d 536, 539, 170 Misc. 922, 925 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.1938), quoted in Borek v. Golder, 190 Misc. 366, 390, 74 N.Y.S.2d 675, 697 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.1947). 30 Rockland cites no case where the exercise of the county's eminent domain power has been successfully challenged through citizen suit on grounds of waste or illegality. Rather, the County relies on cases where the plaintiff alleges a wrongful award of a government contract, see Campbell v. City of New York, 244 N.Y. 317, 328, 155 N.E. 628, 629 (1927), and charges wrongful distribution of cable television franchises, see Orth-O-Vision, Inc. v. City of New York, 101 Misc.2d 987, 989-90, 422 N.Y.S.2d 781, 784 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.1979). The absence of direct authority is not surprising, however, because the courts have traditionally accorded the state considerable discretion when exercising its taking power. People v. Adirondack Railway, 160 N.Y. 225, 239-40, 54 N.E. 689, 693 (1899), aff'd, 176 U.S. 335, 20 S.Ct. 460, 44 L.Ed. 492 (1900); see Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26, 32, 75 S.Ct. 98, 102, 99 L.Ed. 27 (1954) (once the legislature has declared a condemnation to be for a public use, the role of the courts is an extremely narrow one). In a representative democracy, extravagance and waste in the use of eminent domain are remedied better at the ballot box than at the courthouse. Rockland is not barred on grounds of illegality or waste from fulfilling its obligations under the settlement agreement.