Eminent Domain – Case Law Wire

Great Smoky Mountains R.R. v. Mach 2 Invs. — Third Parties Cannot Attack a Railroad’s Deed from NCDOT, Even If State Conveyance Procedures Were Not Followed

/ July 17, 2026

The North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal in a railroad trespass and quiet-title action, holding that Mach 2 Investments and adjoining property owners lacked standing under the jus tertii doctrine to challenge Great Smoky Mountains Railroad’s 1996 deed from NCDOT. Even if the conveyance did not strictly follow state-lands procedures, only the State can mount that challenge—and any defect would render the deed merely voidable, not void. On remand, the trial court must address necessary parties and examine the scope of a historic “farm crossing” easement whose claimed use Mach 2 may have overburdened through subdivision.

Burns v. PennDOT — Misleading Plot Plan Tolls 30-Day Deadline and Opens Separate De Facto Taking Claim

The Commonwealth Court reversed a trial court order striking a de facto condemnation claim from a condemnee’s petition for appointment of viewers. PennDOT’s plot plan showed the condemnee’s home excluded from a County Line Road right-of-way expansion, but a subsequent survey revealed the taking included part of the house’s porch. The court held that a misleading plot plan tolls the Eminent Domain Code’s 30-day filing deadline and permits the condemnee to pursue both de jure and de facto taking claims in a single viewer proceeding.