Contractual Right of First Refusal Not Compensable Under Taking Clause

In an opinion on February 6, 2012, the Georgia Supreme Court held that a condemning authority is not required to compensate a landowner for a right of first refusal of a tract of land adjacent to the tract subject to condemnation under the Taking Clause of the Georgia Constitution of 1983, Art. 1., Section 3, Paragraph 1.  Robinson v. Gwinnett County, Case No. S11A1533 (Feb. 6, 2012).   The right of first refusal of the adjacent tract had value and was part of the bundle of rights held, but the Court decided that the county was not required to compensate the landowners for the value of the option upon condemning the land to which the option was attached.