Excess Condemnation in the United States: A Symposium: The Present Status of Excess Condemnation in the United States

Excess condemnation is the technical remedy for a legal technicality, and being the outgrowth of bad logic, is difficult to explain clearly. It has been defined as the taking by eminent domain (and, therefore, without the consent of the owner) of more land than is needed for a public improvement. The practical man realizes that the development of the land outside the lines of the given improvement, so as to harmonize with the improvement within them, is essential to the attainment of the maximum usefulness of that improvement. In short, he knows that the outside land–not in fact “excess”–is needed for the improvement. This, the judges in the United States, apparently have not been able to realize.