You remember when in grade school you learned that your teacher was out for the day, and you were getting a substitute? It could be a very good day, or a very not-so-good day. Maybe the sub was cool, and you end up watching filmstrips. But if you drew the short straw, the
Show Me The Money: Reg Takings Claim Ripe Because City Made Its Decision Even If Owner Could Have Administratively Appealed
Nothing to do with the case, beyond the owner’s name.
But c’mon, its ABBA.
Ms. Money and her spouse own a home in San Marcos, Texas. That home is in a historic district.
But it turns out that some of that history isn’t pretty: one of the previous owners was “notoriously associated with the
Fla Ct App (en banc) In Takings Case: “failing to vindicate a right expressly stated in the Constitution is not judicial restraint but judicial abnegation. That we must not do.”
Shands Key, with the City of Marathon in the background
This just in: in Shands v. City of Marathon, No. 3D21-1987 (Fed. 5, 2025), Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals sitting en banc held that the city’s downzoning of property (Shands Key, shown above in an exhibit from the Key West trial we participated
Friday Dirt Law Round-Up
Here’s what we’re reading this day:
- Christian Britschgi (Reason), “18 Months After Wildfires Destroyed Some 2,000 Homes on Maui, Only 3 Have Been Rebuilt“
- Christy DeSmith (Harvard Gazette), “Study says tighter land-use controls hurt productivity, innovation among builders, fuel housing crisis“
- Steven Greenhut, “If California Can Suspend Permitting Rules After
Mass SJC: State Requiring Municipalities To Adopt Multi-Family Zoning Is Enforceable By AG…But
The only courthouse we know where the Supreme Court
is below the Court of Appeals (SJC on the second floor,
appellate court on the third)
A brief one from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
In Attorney General v. Town of Milton, No. SJC-13580 (Jan. 8, 2025), the court rejected a challenge to
New Cert Petition: To Have A Nollan-Dolan-Koontz Claim, Must You Be Forced To Give Up Land And Money?
Here’s a recently-filed cert petition to watch. We won’t go into the background, because the Questions Presented pretty much lay the foundation:
Respondent County of San Diego, et al. (County), a California land use agency, denied the land use permits for Village Communities et al. (Village) to develop a much-needed residential and mixed-use community
CA8 Misses An Opportunity For Penn Central Clarity: No Taking When City Bans New Private Wells, Requires City Water
At first glance, it might seem like there’s a lot there in the U.S. Court of Appeals’ opinion in Becker v. City of Hillsboro, No. 23-3367 (Jan. 7, 2025).
After all, the city’s prohibition on new private wells and another requirement that newly built homes connect to the city’s water system seems a bit
Iowa: Mandatory Inspection Of Rental Units Without A Warrant Is Not Facially Unconstitutional, Because Private Inspectors Might Barge In
It’s been a couple of weeks, but we’re still trying to wrap our head around the Iowa Supreme Court’s opinion in Singer v. City of Orange City, No. 23-1600 (Dec. 20, 2024).
The court rejected a facial challenge under the Iowa Constitution’s search-and-seizure clause to a city ordinance requiring the owner of rental units
NY App Div: Requiring Art Fee “Donation” To Get Building Permit Lacks Nexus, Proportionality
In what might be the most cliched “New York City” land use situation, check out the Appellate Division’s opinion in Coalition For Fairness v. City of New York, No. 2023-05338 (Dec. 5, 2024).
Want to convert your SoHo-NoHo artist live/work space to unlimited residential use? Be prepared to pony up and pay to the
Holiday Dirt Law Movie: “Christmas at the Drive In” (aka Rudolph The Red-Nosed Redeveloper)
‘Tis the season for TV holiday movies. Here’s one to add to your list, as it is on-brand for us dirt lawyers. “Christmas at the Drive In” is described thusly:
“A property lawyer works to prove that her town’s Drive In Theater, a local institution, is not closed down at the holidays, finding