Hauselt v. County of Butte

Opinion

DAVIS, J. *

This is an action for inverse condemnation in a flood control context. We uphold the judgment that found, with one exception, no inverse condemnation liability. We do so because the trial court, in this bench trial, decided all material issues, and properly found that defendant public entity’s activities met the applicable legal standard—the rule of reasonable conduct (also known as the reasonableness rule).

Background

In 1988, William Hauselt (plaintiff), an experienced property developer, purchased a 94-acre almond orchard about a mile north of Chico, eventually intending to…