Land use law

“This case presents an issue of first impression in this Circuit — whether a legislative, generally applicable development condition that does not require the owner to relinquish rights in the real property, as opposed to an adjudicative land-use exaction, should be reviewed pursuant to the ad hoc standards of Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City…

Some interesting items from around the land use law blogosphere:

  • A write up of an Eleventh Circuit (which covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) decision striking down as unconstitutional a municipal ordinance that prohibited national chain retail stores because it violates the dormant Commerce Clause.  This could be a very important case on the “big box”

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The transcript of the June 2, 2008 arguments in the federal lawsuit challenging Maui’s affordable (“workforce”) housing exaction has been released. That hearing resulted in a lengthy opinion by the District Court holding that the plaintiff’s Nollan/Dolan claims were not ripe, and a recent order holding that the facial due process and equal…

The US District Court for the District of Hawaii has granted (in part) the County of Maui’s motion for reconsideration of the court’s earlier order granting in part and denying in partthe County’s summary judgment motion.  Here’s a copy of the court’s latest order.

The court entered summary judgment in favor of the…

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 27, 2008.  Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the University of Hawaii School of Law will be presenting a workshop “Hawaii State Historic Preservation Laws: Reclaiming the Past, Shaping the Future.” 

I will be speaking on “Background Principles and Paradigm Shifting: The…

Is a determination by the Corps of Engineers that property contains “waters of the United States” and is therefore subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act a “final agency action” subject to judicial review under the Administrative Procedures Act?  According to the Ninth Circuit, no. 

In Fairbanks North Star Borough v. U.S. Army Corps …

District Court: San Diego county’s zoning ordinance — which “imposes restrictions and permit requirements on the construction and location of wireless telecommunications facilities” — conflicts with federal law, and is preempted.  The county is permanently enjoined from enforcing the zoning ordinance.

Ninth Circuit panel: we agree. 

Ninth Circuit en banc: we don’t, injunction dissolved, case…

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…