The Garden Island reports that a property owner’s appeal of the County of Kauai’s approval of its permits with allegedly illegal conditions is going forward after the County withdrew its motion to dismiss.
The County Attorney’s Office filed for themotion to dismiss based on the Planning Commission failing to issue a“written decision and order containing …
The Garden Island reports that the Kauai County Council is considering a ban on “gated communities” —
A stalled plan to ban gated communitiesshould return to County Council’s agenda by the end of February, MayorBryan Baptiste said yesterday.
“It’s not a public safety issue to me,” he said. “It’s so we don’t isolate …
A complaint has been filed in U.S. District Court against the mayor of Kauai County, the county Department of Planning, and the Planning Commission over the Coconut Beach development. The complaint seeks relief for violations of equal protection, and federal civil rights laws. Charley Foster has some background on the case here. Download the…
I’ve had a chance to review Matsuda v. City and County of Honolulu, No. 06-15337 (Jan 14, 2008), a decision by the Ninth Circuit on the Contracts and Due Process clauses, but which also involves how local governments exercise the power of eminent domain. The case revolves around Chapter 38 of the Honolulu Revised…
Thanks to Patty Salkin’s Law of the Land blog for summarizing the recent Supreme Court of Nevada opinion in Hsu v. County of Clark, No. 46461 (Dec. 27, 2007). Read Professor Salkin’s summary or the opinion itself for the complete details, but these are the facts in a nutshell:
The county enacted building height…
After Lingle v. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc., 544 U.S. 528 (2005)informed us that the “substantially advance a legitimate state interest”test was one of substantive due process, not regulatory takings, the courts began revisiting the long-neglected topic of substantive due process in the land use context.
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A round up of posts of possible interest to readers:
The 18-page lawsuit names as defendants thecounty of Kaua‘i, the Planning Commission, and the Planning Departmentand its director. It asks for the Koloa Creekside Estates …
These seemingly unrelated court decisions were tied together with a common thread: private agreements for the most part are not substitutes for public processes, whether it is eminent domain, rezoning, or the granting of permits.
Several courts determined that agreements in which government agreed with private parties to exercise eminent domain were invalid:
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Government Gone Wild: the sad case of Wilkie v. Robbins. In perhaps the low point of 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court held that alandowner who was subject to systematic harassment by governmentofficials because he had the temerity to refuse to give up a publiceasement on his land without just compensation did not have acomprehensive…
The Wall Street Journal details impact fee issues in “Rising Use of ‘Impact’ Fees Rankles New-Home Buyers,” with some truly horrific examples, including one couple whom a California city demanded pay a $240,000 fee to get building permits to construct a rural home valued at $500,000, and homeowners who were required to sign…
