2008

In a brief opinion (the case was decided without oral argument), the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Hawaii district court’s dismissal of claims that the security zone established by the U.S. Coast Guard violated the protester’s First Amendment rights.  Even if the protest was symbolic speech, the security zone was a reasonable time, place, and manner…

The Ninth Circuit has scheduled oral arguments in Maui Vacation Rental Association, Inc. v. County of Maui, No. 08-15251, the Ninth Circuit appeal from the Hawaii district court’s dismissal of MVRA‘s complaint which sought to declare Maui’s shut down of vacation rentals illegal. The court will hear argument on November 21, 2008, at…

When a court labels the Nollan/Dolan line of decisions “so-called exaction cases” (and your claim is that an exaction is not related or proportional) you know right away you are in trouble.

First, the dry summary.  In Action Apartment Ass’n v. City of Santa Monica,No. B201176 (Aug. 28, 2008) (slip opinion available…

In a story titled “Honolulu notifying landowners in way of planned rail route,” the Honolulu Advertiser reports “The city has started notifying residents living in the path of the planned $3.7 billion elevated commuter rail that all or part of their properties may be condemned.  The letters, which are being sent out in…

In Action Apartment Ass’n v. City of Santa Monica, No. B201176 (Aug. 28, 2008), the California Court of Appeal (Second District) denied a facial challenge to the city of Santa Monica’s affordable housing exaction ordinance.  The court relied upon the legislative/adjudicative distinction holding that Nollan/Dolan analysis is only applicable to individual decisions…

In Shanks v. Byrd, No. 06-35665 (Aug. 27, 2008), the Ninth Circuit held that a municipality’s alleged failure to enforce its zoning laws was not a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Developers who convert homes into student residents apparently did not obtain all of the appropriate permits from Spokane, Washington to remodel a portion…

The property owners have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Braun v. Ann Arbor Charter Township, 519 F.3d 564 (6th Cir. 2008), a decision we analyzed here. 

The cert petition contains three Questions Presented:

1.     Should the Court overrule Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank…

In a 2-1 decision applying California law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 848 v. National Labor Relations Bd., No. 05-75295 (Aug. 25, 2008), held that six rules applied by shopping centers to restrict picketing and handbilling by union members…

New filings in the federal district court litigation challenging the County of Maui’s “workforce housing” ordinance.  Enacted in 2006, the Maui ordinance imposes a 40% to 50% affordable requirement on most development, including the subdivision of land.  A property owner subject to this exaction challenged the ordinance under the Nollan/Dolan doctrine of unconstitutional…

In a decision that at first blush seems to have little to do with land use law, the Hawaii Supreme Court reiterated the standard for when an agency hearing is a “contested case” under the Administrative Procedures Act, and clarified what constitutes agency “action” for purpose of the permit application autoapproval statute.

Contested Case …