Here’s the merits brief in a case we’ve been following (naturally, because it is one of ours). This is Sheetz v. El Dorado County, the case which asks whether a condition on development (aka an “exaction”) is exempt from the close nexus and rough proportionality standards of Nollan/Dolan/Koontz simply because the exaction is imposed
Administrative law
Here’s The Program For The 41st ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation Conference, Feb 1-3, 2024, New Orleans
Here’s the brochure and the full agenda and registration information for the upcoming ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conference at the JW Marriott in New Orleans, February 1-3, 2024.
This is the long-running nationally-focused conference on all things eminent domain, takings, valuation, and related. We have three tracks, from which you can …
Live The Dream! Teach Dirt Law In Hawaii: UH Law School Looking For Property & Land Use Lawprof

(Tip for applicants: understanding the symbology of the
Law School’s logo will show you know the score.)
Here’s your chance to teach Property and Land Use in what might be most interesting venue on Planet Earth for those subjects: the University of Hawaii School of Law has put out a call for applications for…
Kansas: No Private Enforcement Of State Relocation Act (And Relocation Isn’t Part Of Just Compensation)
Here’s a short one from the Kansas Supreme Court. In Kansas Fire and Safety Equipment v. City of Topeka, No. 123,063 (June 30, 2023), the court concluded that the requirements of the Kansas Relocation Act do not give rise to a private right of action, and that relocation costs are not a component of…
Nectow Is Meaningless Because It “relies on pre-Lochner administrative review jurisprudence”
One from the Louisiana Court of Appeal, 3000-3022 St. Claude Avenue, LLC v. City of New Orleans, No. 2022-CA-0813 (June 22, 2023) demonstrating that the standard of judicial review for zoning matters (rational basis) is pretty powerful.
The owner wanted to develop its New Orleans property, but first needed a zoning amendment from residential…
Iowa Supreme Court Can’t Decide Much Of Anything In Power To Take Challenge
At first, the Iowa Supreme Court’s opinion in Juckette v. Iowa Utilities Board, No. 21-1788 (June 16, 2023) looks like a promising read. The issue — is a utility expanding its use of an express road easement to install electric lines a taking? — is one that we’ve been following.
But by the…
New Takings Ripeness Cert Petition (Ours): Knowing The Permissible Uses “to a reasonable degree of certainty” Is All You Need For A Claim To Be Ripe
Here’s the cert petition, filed last week, in a case we’ve posted about. See here (Ninth Circuit arguments) and here (en banc petition).
The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal of a takings claim because (it held) the claim isn’t ripe. The government hasn’t made up its mind, and just might allow the owners to…
CA1: Despite Two Variance Denials, Takings Case Not Ripe Because It Isn’t Futile To Try Again
Here’s the latest from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on takings ripeness, Haney v. Town of Mashpee, No. 22-1446 (June 6, 2023).
The case centers on Gooseberry Island, Massachusetts, which is zoned by the Town of Mashpee as R-3. But under the Town’s zoning code, any residence must have at…
SCOTUS GVR’s Pipeline Cert Petition On Delegation Of Eminent Domain To Private Parties
In this Order, the Supreme Court granted this cert petition which presents these questions:
Whether a facial challenge to Congress’s delegation of eminent domain power to private parties is properly filed in district court, as this Court held in PennEast Pipeline Co. v. New Jersey, 141 S. Ct. 2244 (2021), or with FERC…



