1. 1. Before any person, other than a government or public utility, may exercise the right of eminent domain to take any real property within a historic district organized under chapter 384 of NRS, the person must first obtain the approval of the board of county commissioners of the county or the governing body of the city in which that real property is situated. This consent must not be withheld if the person seeking to exercise the right of eminent domain shows that:

   1. (a) The property will be put to a public use;
   2. (b) The property is necessary for that public use; and
   3. (c) The intended public use will be of great public benefit to the immediate community or area in which the real property is situated and not significantly harmful to historic landmarks or features.

2. 2. In any subsequent judicial proceeding to condemn that real property, the determinations of the board of county commissioners or the governing body whether the property will be put to a public use and whether it is necessary for that use are prima facie evidence of those facts, respectively, unless the court specifically finds that the determinations were:

   1. (a) Arbitrary and capricious; or
   2. (b) Not supported by substantial evidence.

(Added to NRS by 1981, 1619; A 1989, 22)