Land use law

PXL_20231101_125417762.PORTRAIT (Small)
Guess where we stopped for coffee this morning?
(A reminder: this case has nothing to do
with the convenience store.)

Note: this is the first of two posts on the recent Supreme Court opinions in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, the case in which the unanimous Court held that exactions imposed by

Here’s what folks are saying about yesterday’s unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, where the Court held that impact fees and exactions imposed by legislative action are not categorically immune from the close nexus and rough proportionality requirements already applicable to ad hoc/administratively-imposed exactions under Nollan, Dolan, and

Sheetz

This just in: the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a unanimous opinion in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, a case we’ve been following (not only because it is one of ours).

The Court, as predicted, held that an exaction (in this case a traffic impact fee) isn’t immune from the Nollan/Dolan nexus

Here’s what we’re reading today:

Screenshot 2024-03-26 at 09-12-12 Meme Generator - Imgflip

Check this out: lawprof Ilya Somin has posted “Squatters’ Rights Laws Violate the Takings Clause” at Volokh.

His thesis is just as the title suggests, arguing that state statutes that treat trespassers as tenants are government-authorized physical occupations, and thus are takings:

Ideally, state and local governments should make it easy for property

Screenshot 2024-03-14 at 16-04-25 Planning Law Careers in Land Development

If you’ve been around us long enough, you know that we’re big into the notion of “generational handoff” and doing what we can to make sure that students and others who are building their careers realize that dirt law and related topics are very good areas in which to find your way.

Well, here’s the

In Rhone v. City of Texas City, No. 22-40551 (Feb. 14, 2024), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a municipality’s conclusion that Rhone’s apartment building had not been properly maintained, and a subsequent municipal court demolition order, might be a taking … or it might not be.

We won’t

ALI-CLE brochure cover page

When it comes to the longstanding ALI-CLE American Law Institute-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation Conferences, we’re always ready to go. You know that. But this year’s version — the 41st — was buzzing like no other in recent memory.

Maybe it was the New Orleans venue with its atmo, food, and music for

The DC Court of Appeals’ (note: not the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit) opinion in Gordon v. District of Columbia, No. 20-CV-0568 (Feb. 15, 2024), presents a good cross-section of property rights issues. Not a good outcome on property rights issues, mind you.

If nothing else, be sure to check out

2024 Gifford Lecture Carol N. Brown Professor of Law flyer

Join us and our Land Use class, in-person on the campus of the University of Hawaii Law School (or online via Zoom, where it will be livestreamed), as Richmond Law lawprof Carol Brown delivers the 2024 Distinguished Gifford Lecture in Real Property, on March 24, 2024, at 4:40 p.m. Hawaii Time in the Cades