Nollan v. California Coastal Comm’n

U.S. Supreme Court Revisits, Tightens Regulatory Takings Limits on Land Use Regulation

California Homeowner’s Takings Challenge to County’s Traffic Impact Fee Heads Back to State Court

On April 12th, the U.S. Supreme Court revisited a constitutional doctrine near and dear to its institutional heart: when and under what circumstances does a land use permit condition violate the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause? In yet another “regulatory takings” case from California, the Supreme Court wound up not answering that precise question.  Instead, the …

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A(nother) California “Regulatory Takings” Case Heads to the Supreme Court

Newly-accepted case pits private property rights against government land use authority

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear and decide an important “regulatory takings” case from California that has major implications for federal, state and local governments nationwide.  The case is Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, Docket No. 22-1074. Even before the justices granted review in the Sheetz case last Friday, the Court’s 2023-24 …

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San Jose’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance Dodges Supreme Court Bullet

Justices Deny Review of California Supreme Court Decision Upholding San Jose Measure

Advocates of the City of San Jose’s controversial inclusionary housing ordinance, which was upheld in a 2015 California Supreme Court decision, are breathing a sigh of relief this week.  That’s because the U.S. Supreme Court has denied the California Building Industry Association’s petition for certiorari in the case.  But the available evidence suggests that the High Court …

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Koontz and Exactions: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

As Rick pointed out the other day, with Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Mgmt. Dist., the Supremes finished their Takings trifecta for this term, with unsurprisingly the plaintiff winning in all three cases.  Koontz raised two issues: 1) do Nollan and Dolan apply when the government simply denies a permit, as opposed to attaching …

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Takings, Standing, and Those Nasty Neighbors

Most lawyers reading this page are familiar with Nollan v. Calif. Coastal Comm’n, the 1987 Supreme Court case holding that exactions in exchange for land use permits must show an “essential nexus” between the purported harm generated by the permit and aims of the exaction.  (More precisely, Nollan gave heightened scrutiny to finding that nexus.).  …

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The Mystery of Koontz: “Why Are We Here?”

Lyle Denniston of SCOTUSBlog reports that the plaintiff’s argument in the Court’s highest-profile Takings case of the year, Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District, did not go well.  Both Rick and I have blogged about the case before, and the more I think about it, it seems to me that the case has been …

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Previewing This Week’s Oral Arguments in the Supreme Court’s Most Important Property Rights Case This Term

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in what is shaping up as the Court’s most important property rights case of the current Term: Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, No. 11-1447.  What can we expect? Koontz is one of three Takings Clause cases on the Court’s docket this Term.  …

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A Strange Taking Case for the 2012 Term

Rick notes that the Supremes have decided to revisit Takings jurisprudence in a couple of cases this term.  One of them,  Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, involves an important legal issue, but the factual issues seem quite strange. The Supremes granted cert in Koontz to consider two questions: 1) can a property …

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