Land use law

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A nondescript corner of what could be just about any urban city street in America. Nothing of overwhelming interest, just the usual commercial buildings, traffic signals, and small businesses. A self-storage facility. Pretty typical in a Commercial district. Here, the “C-4 District.”

Nothing at all, in fact, to indicate that just over a century ago, this was

Mississippi, like many states, by statute allows private parties to condemn a neighbor’s land for use as a private access road, if doing so is “necessary” for a landlocked parcel to gain ingress and egress. This power is subject to limitations: for example, the parcel must be truly landlocked with no other access. Mississippi apparently has

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The Nollans own a beachfront lot in Ventura County, California. A quarter-mile north of their property is Faria County Park, an oceanside public park with a public beach and recreation area. Another public beach area, known locally as “the Cove,” lies 1,800 feet south of their lot. A concrete seawall approximately eight feet high separates

The land use and zoning game can be pretty strange to the uninitiated. If that description includes you, here’s your chance to get initiated. The American Planning Association is sponsoring a webinar about “Rules of the Game: A Framework for Fair and Effective Zoning Hearings,” on Monday, March 7, 2016. Here’s the

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As we noted here (“Latest On The Latest Hawaii Takings Case: Unconstitutional Conditions, Statutes Of Limitations, And Vested Rights“) the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii is considering a regulatory takings case (removed by the defendant State of Hawaii from Hawaii courts) involving a stalled development on the Big Island.

At

You can really breathe in San Jose
They’ve got a lot of space
There’ll be a place where I can stay.
I was born and raised in San Jose
I’m going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose

Today, in this order after a series of rescheduled considerations that had seen the

Worth couldn’t get to his “Section 30 property” except from Evans’ land, or from his own land after fording the 102 River.

So Worth sued Evans in a private condemnation (essentially seeking an easement by necessity). Evans filed a petition alleging that Worth could not use the eminent domain power because Worth had reasonable access

Appropos of nothing really, but we’re going to end this work week by recounting for you something we heard during testimony yesterday at a government agency hearing. You land use types will recognize this one, but we think this took the “unilateral agreement” fiction to new heights:

“We couldn’t reach agreement with [the other party] so

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All of the drama playing out in the North Carolina Supreme Court yesterday as the court heard oral arguments in its review of Kirby v North Carolina Dep’t of Transportation, No. COA14-184 (Feb. 17, 2015) came down — as they often do in these things — to a single question from the bench, and