SUPERIOR Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho has awarded Conrad Sablan, his mother, and his siblings $2.106 million in compensation for the unconstitutional taking of their property in Sadog Tasi through inverse condemnation by the CNMI government and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
In September 2022, Judge Camacho ruled in favor of Sablan against the public utility and the government for installing a million-gallon water tank and fences on his property in Sadog Tasi.
Judge Camacho said Sablan’s inverse condemnation claim was not barred by the statute of limitations.
He also found that there was a trespass, and that the excavation of the relevant property and the water shaft are permanent trespasses.
The judge said CUC did not adversely possess the land.
In his 25-page order on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, the judge noted that in his first order he found that an unconstitutional taking occurred on March 31, 1991, due to the construction of the Maui IV reservoir/Superblue water tank.
“The remaining issues to be determined were plaintiff Sablan’s ownership interest from 1991 to 2024, the amount of land taken, whether just compensation is owed and the amount thereof, and the liability of the defendants,” the judge said.
He finds that Sablan was the owner of the land, TR No. 22654, at the time of the taking on March 31, 1991 before its subdivision.
“Sablan shared an interest in TR No. 22654 with his mother Maria Sablan and his siblings Tito Sablan and Vicente M. Sablan at that time until the subdivision in 2013 and 2014,” Judge Camacho said.
The court also found that TR No. 22654-1 was not taken as a result of the water tank and its chain link fences because Conrad Sablan had not shown that in 1991 he was unable to access TR No. 22654-1.
“The lack of access occurred after the subdivision in 2013 when TR No. 22654 was divided in a way that landlocked TR No. 22654-1. It was [Conrad] Sablan and his family members’ subdivision that created the landlock situation; and there are other routes for Sablan to access TR No. 22654-1,” he added.
Moreover, the court finds the entirety of “TR No. 22654-R2 was taken on March 31, 1991, when the Water Tank and its chain link fences were built. Based on the site visit on Aug. 13, 2019, and Mr. Lilio Tiples’ (certified real estate appraiser) testimony, the remainder 2,468 square meters of TR No. 22654-R2 are economically unusable for residential, commercial, or agricultural purposes.”
The judge finds that Conrad Sablan, Maria Sablan, Tito Sablan, and Vicente M. Sablan are entitled to just compensation for the taking of TR No. 22654-R2.
They were awarded “a prejudgment interest rate of 5.341% with a final award of $2,106,366.97, including post-judgment interest at 3%,” Judge Camacho said.
Likewise, the court found that the CNMI government and CUC are jointly and severally liable for the just compensation award.
Conrad Sablan, represented by attorney Brien Sers Nicholas, sued CUC for an inverse condemnation claim and a tortious trespass claim.
In an inverse condemnation action, a plaintiff seeks a monetary award from the government when the government has taken property without providing just compensation.
Conrad Sablan found out in 2013 that CUC had built a water tank, the Maui IV Water Tank, on his land in March 1992.
He further discovered that CUC also built wire fences that prevented him from being able to access his other property in the same area.
He filed the lawsuit in 2015 against CUC and the CNMI government for building a water tank and putting up fences on his land.
CUC was represented by attorney Colin M. Thompson, while the CNMI government was represented by Assistant Attorney General J. Robert Glass Jr.
