§ 1240.690.Action For Declaratory Relief By Public Entity Or Nonprofit Organization Where Property Sought to Be Acquired For Highway Purposes

Sections 1240.670 and 1240.680's presumptions aren't the end of the conversation when a state highway project is involved; this section supplies the forum for testing them. If property covered by either presumption was dedicated to its protected use before highway route location studies even began, the public entity or nonprofit owning it may bring an action for declaratory relief in superior court to determine which use is truly the best and most necessary public use.

That action is on a tight clock: it must be filed and served within 120 days after the California Transportation Commission publishes notice in a newspaper of general circulation and separately delivers written notice to the property owner that a proposed or adopted route includes the property. Nonprofits only need to receive that written notice if they're registered with the state's Registrar of Charitable Trusts.

Miss that 120-day window, and the consequence is severe: the right to bring the action is waived, and the presumptions in §§ 1240.670 and 1240.680 no longer apply to that property. The same result follows whenever a declaratory-relief action isn't available under this section in the first place. Subdivision (c) adds one more wrinkle: the Commission's own resolution isn't conclusive evidence of the § 1240.030 findings in that declaratory-relief action, leaving the merits open for the court to decide.