Land use law

Sidewalk

A good opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Knight v. Metro. Gov’t of Nashville, No. 21-6179 (May 10, 2023), holding that conditions imposed on every development — and not just ad hoc administratively-imposed conditions — must conform to the Nollan-Dolan-Koontz close nexus and rough proportionality standards.

You takings

1992 Aerial Photo Island2
Shands Key, with the City of Marathon in the background

This just in: in Shands v. City of Marathon, No. 3D21-1987 (May 3, 2023), Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals held that the city’s downzoning the property (Shands Key, shown above in an exhibit from the Key West trial we participated in in June

If everything the Ninth Circuit says in its unpublished memorandum opinion in Craneveyor Corp. v. City of Rancho Cucamonga, No. 22-55435 (Apr. 20, 2023) is accurate, there’s no way to ever draft a complaint alleging a facial Penn Central regulatory taking that will survive a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a

HAWSCT-1

Update: the court has rescheduled the arguments to June 22, 2023, at 10 a.m.

The Hawaii Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in an important eminent domain case about severance damages for the Honolulu Rail Authority’s condemnation of land in Honolulu for one of its stations (assuming, of course, that the under-construction rail line actually

D Callies Retirement Celebration Invite 4-27-2023.f

Come join us on Thursday, April 27, 2023, from 5-7pm, downtown Honolulu, to celebrate the retirement of Professor David L. Callies from the University of Hawaii Law School.

Join U.H. Law School Dean Camille Nelson, Professor Callies’ colleagues, his students (present and former), the Hawaii legal community, and family and friends as we honor

There’s a lot going on in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in Tejas Motel, L.L.C. v. City of Mesquite, No. 22-10321 (Mar. 22, 2023), but that’s mostly because it’s a procedural decision resolving a question of whether a Texas court’s federal takings judgment was res judicata, and therefore

As most of you probably already know, there’s a demon lurking out there in takings claims. Not of the Levon Helm-narrated The Right Stuff variety, but maybe just as deadly in litigation.

That’s right, the too-early-or-too-late thing (or in some cases, the too-early-and-too-late argument). Getting caught between arguments that a takings claim

If a zoning statute or ordinance sets out the uses permitted in a zone, and the uses not permitted in the zone, and a property owner wants to make a use not permitted in the zone, all she needs to do is apply for a variance, or a Conditional Use Permit, or a nonconforming use

ThomasMitchell

If you are in Honolulu, please join us on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, 4:30-5:30 p.m. at the University of Hawaii Law School for Professor Thomas Mitchell on “Heirs’ Property and the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act: Challenges, Solutions, and Historic Reform.”

Our U.H. Land Use class is attending to learn more about “heirs’ property” (described as “the biggest problem you’ve never heard of“), and so should you. Yes, Hawaii has adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act and we have followed this issue for some time, but if you didn’t know about this, now is your chance to catch up.

Here are the details from the U.H. newsletter:

Carlsmith Ball presents the 2023 Distinguished Gifford Lecturer in Real Property, Thomas W. Mitchell. Mitchell is a professor at Boston College Law School, where he holds the Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Endowed Chair and serves as the Director of the Initiative on Land, Housing & Property Rights. He is a national expert on property issues facing disadvantaged families and communities and has published leading scholarly works addressing these matters.

In 2020, Professor Mitchell was named one of 21 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship in recognition of the substantial impact his professional work has had in assisting disadvantaged farmers and property owners, people who are disproportionately but not exclusively African American and other people of color. He is the only lawyer in his MacArthur Fellowship class. Please join us for this Distinguished Gifford Lecture; a light reception is to follow from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Come, join us for this compelling session.
Continue Reading Join Us On Wed March 8 at 4:30pm For 2023 Distinguished Gifford Lecture In Real Property – Prof Thomas Mitchell On “Heirs’ Property & the Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act: Challenges, Solutions, & Historic Reform”