There’s still time to sign up for the “Practical Guide to Zoning and Land Use Law” seminar, to be held Thursday, April 3, 2008, in Honolulu. I will be leading sessions on Current Case Law and Legislative Update, and Appealing an Administrative Zoning Decision. A detailed agenda and registration information are posted here.
March 2008
The First Amendment, the Ninth Circuit, and the Ten Commandments
By Robert H. Thomas on
Posted in Land use law, RLUIPA | religious land use
While not exactly on the usual topics of this blog, the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Card v. City of Everett, No. 05-35996 (Mar. 26, 2008) is worth a read. It involves the question of whether the placement of a reproduction of the Ten Commandments (the tablets, not the movie) on the grounds of Old…
Well, What Do You Know: Condemnees Have Due Process Rights!
By Robert H. Thomas on
Posted in Due process, Property rights
In a series of decisions that in any context but eminent domain would be unsurprising, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, held that a property owner whose land is targeted for involuntary acquisition is entitled to be told about it first.
In Harrison Redevelopment Agency v. DeRose, Nos. A-0958-06T2, A-0382-07T2 (Feb. 25, 2008)…
Epstein on the Didden Case
By Robert H. Thomas on
In Forbes, law prof Richard Epstein writes “The Taking of Port Chester” about the Didden v. Village of Port Chester case. The facts of Didden are particularly egregious — in return for a private developer’s promise to withholdan exercise of eminent domain, a landowner was offered a choice: givethe developer $800,000…
New Article: Property Rights in the Ninth Circuit, And Beyond
By Robert H. Thomas on
The Federalist Society has posted a new edition of Engage – The Journal of Federalist Society Practice Groups, a newsletter-format publication with short scholarly articles on topics such as Administrative Law, Environmental Law and Property Rights, and Civil Rights, among others.
The most interesting article in this edition is Property Rights in the Ninth …
Order in Florida Short Term Rental Case
By Robert H. Thomas on
Here’s the written order (1.8mb pdf) in Milo v. City of Venice, Case No. 2008 CA 552 SC (Mar. 17, 2008), the Florida case invalidating a municipality’s restrictions on short term rentals that I posted earlier. The case arose after the city’s planning director determined that the local zoning ordinance restricted short term rentals…
Epstein Blogs His New Takings Book
By Robert H. Thomas on
In a post at PrawfsBlawg, “Takings, a Second Time,” University of Chicago Law Professor Richard Epstein discusses his new book Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection for Private Property, a follow-up to Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (1985):
There is a sneaky character of great constitutional…
Missouri Supreme Court: Both Large and Small Cities May Use Eminent Domain for Redevelopment
By Robert H. Thomas on
Posted in Property rights, Public Use | Kelo
Disappointing news out of the Missouri Supreme Court. In City of Arnold v. Tourkakis, No. SC88647 (Mar. 18, 2008), the court held that both chartered and non-chartered Missouri cities have the power to use eminent domain to take property for “redevelopment.” The issue in the case was whether Article VI, section 21 of the…
Land Use Seminar – April 3, 2008
By Robert H. Thomas on
On April 3, 2008, I will be on the faculty of “Practical Guide to Zoning and Land Use Law” in Honolulu. I’ll be presenting two subjects, “Current Caselaw and Legislative Update,” and “Appealing an Administrative Zoning Decision. Also on the faculty are Jesse Souki and A. Bernard Bays. The complete agenda and registration information are…
6th Circuit: We Have No Jurisdiction, But We Rule Against The Property Owner Anyway
If you picked up and read a copy of Braun v. Ann Arbor Charter Township, No. 07-1370 (Mar. 13, 2008), an opinion by the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, without having read the briefs of the parties and the decision of the court below, you might not see anything terribly…