We’re tied up all day in the 10th Hawaii Land Use Law Conference, but two other bloggers have stepped up to fill the gap, offering cogent analysis and some contrarian thoughts about the recent oral arguments in Koontz v. St Johns River Water Mgmt Dist., No. 11-1447 (cert. granted Oct. 5, 2012).
Most of the existing commentary, ours included, thought that the decision may turn on whether Justice Scalia, the author of Nollan, thought it fatal to a takings theory that the property owner declined to accept the permit. However, Florida land use lawyer Jacob Cremer has a slightly different view, and does not share the pessimism. He attended the oral arguments and provides an eyewitness account and his analysis here. His conclusion? Don’t be so quick to write off the case just yet. Same for “Koontz oral argument: Should Nollan and Dolan apply only to ‘stupid districts’?” from Christina Martin, a legal fellow at PLF (who represented the property owner).