We’re experiencing the madness that is the ABA Annual Meeting — this time in San Francisco — hanging with colleagues from the State and Local Government Law Section (where we’re slated to be the Chair-Elect this year), and at the Council of Appellate Lawyers. These meetings are a lot of … meetings .. but there’s
Land use law
Constitutional Property Claims Are For Courts, Not Agencies
The issue resolved by the Minnesota Supreme Court in Zweber v. Credit River Township, No. A14-0893 (July 27, 2016) was one that land use lawyers deal with constantly: when an administrative agency is alleged to have violated someone’s constitutional rights, what procedural route must the legal challenge take — is the plaintiff required to…
Maine Supreme Court Considers Public Prescriptive Easements For Beach Access
Apparently (if the level of media coverage is any measure), the question of public access to beaches is a big thing in Maine:
- After Harpswell court case, public use surges on beaches
- Opponent of Harpswell beach access puts property up for sale
- Maine’s high court hears arguments in beach access case in Harpswell
- Maine high
…
Rail: Building To The Nowhere Of Middle?
As we noted last week, the expanding costs of the Honolulu Rail project has forced Honolulu’s mayor to ask whether construction should be delayed or stopped entirely, short of its planned terminus at Ala Moana shopping center. “Middle Street” became the new rail watchword, even though stopping it there would omit — temporarily or…
Cal App: Vested Rights Are All About Timing
A land use diversion, to take you into the weekend. As land users know, the vested rights and zoning estoppel doctrines are all about timing. When did the government gave the green light” (however that is defined in your jurisdiction), what did the property owner do after that, and when did the government decide “hey, wait…
Holdouts And Regrades, Seattle Style
As readers know, from time to time, we undertake what might be called “eminent domain tourism” — visiting the sites of famous and infamous cases when we’re in the neighborhood. Hadacheck, Kaiser Aetna, Nollan, Dolan, and PruneYard, for example.
Perhaps the best illustration of the “holdout” comes from Seattle (see…
Honolulu To Truncate Rail … For Now?
In a surprise move, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell today announced that he supports suspending the Honolulu rail project at Middle Street, at least until there’s more money in the coffers. See “Mayor, Council chairman say rail should end at Middle Street for now” from Marcel Honore at the Star-Advertiser.
We think the…
New Article On Nollan/Dolan/Koontz: “When Local Government Misbehaves”
A new(er) law review article, worth reading, from Dean Shelly Saxer, “When Local Government Misbehaves,” 2016 Utah L. Rev. 105 (2016). Here’s the abstract:
In this article, Dean Saxer examines the Supreme Court’s decision in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District. In that land use case, the Court held that proposed…
Today: Ninth Circuit Oral Arguments In Hawaii Anti-GMO Cases
All you preemption, agriculture, municipal and local government law junkies, take note: later today, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals will hear arguments in three cases, each of which is an appeal of the District Court’s seriatim invalidation of county ordinances which regulated GMO and pesticide use in Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii Counties…
NC: “Map Act,” Which Designates Property For Future Highway Acquisition — And Prohibits Development In The Interim — Is A Taking
This just in: the North Carolina Supreme Court has issued an opinion in an important case we’ve been following for a long time, Kirby v. North Carolina Dep’t of Transportation.
This is the case about the “Map Act,” a statute which designates private property for future highway use, and “restricted plaintiffs’ fundamental rights to improve…



