Land use law

West Hawaii Today reports on yesterday’s oral arguments in the Supreme Court of Hawaii in County of Hawaii v. Richards, the appeal from two eminent domain actions on the Big Island of Hawaii.   [Disclosure: my Damon Key colleagues Ken Kupchak, Mark Murakami, and Christi-Anne Kudo Chock and I represent the property owners.]…

Interesting decision from the California Second District Court of Appeals in Manufactured Home Communities, Inc. v. County of San Luis Obispo, No. B196426 (Oct. 15, 2008).  The case involves a writ of administrative mandate (administrative appeal for you non-Californians) reviewing the decision by the county Rent Review Board denying a request to increase the…

You have to wait until the government enacts a lousy law before you can run to court to challenge it.

That’s the lesson from Stonehouse Homes v. City of Sierra Madre, No. B195552 (Oct. 9, 2008), in which California’s Second District Court of Appeals held that a lawsuit challenging the city’s “moratorium resolution” was…

The title for today’s editorial in the Honolulu Star Bulletin about the “ceded lands” case now before the U.S. Supreme Court says it all: “Court should reverse freeze on land sales.” 

The Lingle administration should be encouraged by the U.S. SupremeCourt’s decision to review an unconscionable state ruling thatprohibits the sale or transfer of virtually…

Mr. McFarland’s property is surrounded by Glacier National Park in Montana.  The only way to get to the property in the winter is by Route 7 (the Park Service prohibits snowmobiles).  The Service closes the road to the public, but until 1999 allowed landowners limited winter access.  In 1999, however, the Service closed the road…

The California Court of Appeals, Second District (Los Angeles) today struck down a municipal moratorium on development, which in some cases prevented landowners from developing their properties for 30 years:

We conclude that the resolution, by implementing the moratorium and continuing to prevent plaintiffs from building on their properties, “deprive[d] [plaintiffs’] land of all economically…

To those who attended the workshop at the University of Hawaii law school, Hawaii State Historic Preservation Laws: Reclaiming the Past, Shaping the Future, thank you.  Here are links to the cases I mentioned in my presentation.

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