Zoning & Planning

You land user types know that the concept of “vested rights” or “zoning estoppel” and related doctrines line nonconforming uses are very state-specific. From early vesting jurisdictions where merely filing an application for a permitted use locks in the then-existing restrictions on use, to places like California where you need to have driven the last nail before you can say you are vested. Then there are those jurisdictions somewhere in the middle which say there has to be some action by government that induces reasonable reliance in the form of expenditures.
Continue Reading Uno Reverse: Iowa Says That Until Government Regulates, Your Expectations To Use Your Property Can Never “Crystallize”

In a state like Vermont that is heavily dependent on tourism, it shouldn’t be all that surprising that one of the most prominent issues is the policy and legal fight over short-term rentals. In 2022, Burlington, the state’s largest city, tightened up its short-term rental regulations to prohibit “nonhost-occupied short-term rentals in Burlington with…

Here’s the latest in a case out of a storied New York City neighborhood that we have been following.

Today, our shop filed this cert petition, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision from the New York Court of Appeals (dun-dun) which held that New York City’s charging a massive fee…

We don’t know what the real story is in this report from SF Gate, “Calif. town pauses housing project after French Laundry chef criticism.” But if you had to pick a single story that captures a century of Euclidean vibe, where “neighborhood character” objections (first affirmed in that case) can kill what might be a good thing because neighbors can anonymously vote how someone uses their own property, you couldn’t do better than this one.
Continue Reading Euclid’s “Neighborhood Character” Vibe, Exemplified In Land Use Fight In The Heart Of The Napa Valley

Here’s a case we’ve been following (esp. because our firm is counsel for the two intervenors). In Montanans Against Irresponsible Densification, LLC v. Montana, No. DA 25-0200 (Mar. 17, 2026), the Montana Supreme Court upheld the “Montana miracle” housing and zoning reform statute against an equal protection challenge. This case is important not only because it upholds loosening of restrictions on housing development and private property rights, but because it also confirms the freedom of contract, and recognizes that private owner remain free to control the use of their own property in the best manner they see fit. …
Continue Reading YIMBY v NIMBY In Montana Supreme Court: “housing reform statutes do not violate the right to equal protection solely because the law treats people not subject to private covenants differently.”

Next week, we’ll be at the Denver Law School for the 2026 Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute’s “Western Places | Western Spaces” annual conference. Earlier in our career, we were a fairly regular attendee, but for mesne reasons (unrelated to the conference) our ability to attend kind of fell off. Recognizing that shortcoming, we attended the 2025 Conference last year. This convinced us that indeed, we were missing out. In short, the RMULI has returned as a featured event on our calendar.
Continue Reading Join Us At The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (Denver) To Talk Sheetz, And Housing

Here’s what’s on our radar screen today: Anthony Flint, How Zoning Won (Bloomberg) (“In 1926, the Supreme Court’s Euclid decision enshrined zoning in US cities. On its 100th anniversary, academics gathered to reflect on the landmark ruling’s mixed legacy.”)…
Continue Reading Today’s Dirt Law Round-Up: Zoning, Public Use, and Penn Central History

Be sure to check out the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ recent opinion in LDI Shallotte 197 Holdings, LLC v. North Carolina, No. COA24-443 (Jan. 21, 2026), where the court held the plaintiff’s allegation that a two-year delay in the State issuing a permit adequately pleaded a temporary taking claim. The court reversed the dismissal of the complaint. …
Continue Reading NC App: Two-Year Permit Delay Could Be A Temporary Taking

In Lifetime Communities, Ltd. v. City of Worthington, No. 25-3048 (Jan. 27, 2026), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the city’s refusal to upzone a vacant parcel from “S-1” (which permits only parks, hospitals, churches, and other similar institutional uses) to a designation that would allow mixed-use development, was not a Penn Central taking. …
Continue Reading CA6: Denial Of Rezoning Is Not A Penn Central Taking