December 2007

Another year has come and gone.  In Hawaii, two of the hottest “landuse” related topics in the public arena remain public beach access andtransient vacation rentals.  Yet, there wasn’t much to report in theway of developments in the law in these areas, as the courts did notaddress these issues directly in any decisions.   Nor were

In a story dated December 30, 2007 in the New York Times Travel section, “Not in My Tropical Backyard,” Christoper Pala ties together several seemingly-unrelated threads: the Hawaii Superferry, development on Molokai, the Hokulia project on the Big Island, and expanded resort development on Oahu’s North Shore.  The only issue that

In a case at the intersection of Kelo-style eminent domain and First Amendment church-state issues, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in In re Condemnation of 1839 North Eighth Street, No. 36 EAP 2006 (Dec. 29, 2007), held that the taking of property designated as “blighted” pursuant to a redevelopment plan, and for a nominal

Thanks to Professor Patty Salkin for forwarding a recent $17 million inverse condemnation judgment from the Texas Court of Appeals.  Trail Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Houston, No. 10-05-00382-CV (Nov. 21, 2007).  It’s a short opinion without much background, so we don’t know what actions by the city resulted in Trail bringing suit, but