Commercial Real Estate › Constitutional Law › Zoning, Planning & Land Use

Temporary Regulatory Takings Do Exist in California!

Given the maze of procedural and substantive hurdles involved, property owners rarely succeed with regulatory takings claims. Even when owners do win, it is yet more uncommon for courts to award damages, instead allowing the...more

City May Not Use “Anti-SLAPP” Motion to Dismiss Claim That City Employee Falsely Told Potential Tenants That Property Owner Was...

Property owners often bristle at statements that local government staff make to prospective tenants or purchasers of their property, concerned that they will be scared away by overly harsh or inaccurate speech. When those...more

Q&A With Bilzin Sumberg's Howard Nelson

Originally Published in Law360 on March 28, 2013. Howard Nelson, chairman of the environmental practice group at Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP, has experience in environmental and land use law and zoning and...more

Rohnert Park Approves Use of Eminent Domain for Street Widening

According to an article in the Press Democrat, Rohnert Park OKs eminent domain at site of future hotel, restaurant, the Rohnert Park City Council recently adopted a resolution of necessity authorizing the use of eminent...more

What is RLUIPA Substantial Burden on a Church, Anyway?

When a governmental land use regulation imposes a substantial burden on churches, RLUIPA requires that the government show that it has a compelling interest and is meeting that interest in the least restrictive way. So...more

Hoku Lele, LLC v. City and County of Honolulu

Opinion of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals

The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, in a unanimous panel opinion authored by Judge Foley, held that a "zoning verification" by the Director of the City and County's Department of Planning and Permitting is not a "action...more

Construction & Land Use Newsletter - December 2012

In This Newsletter: - Condemnation Changed (Permanently?) in Virginia - It’s a Family Affair: Family Subdivision Ordinances - Excerpt from It's a Family Affair: Family Subdivision Ordinances: The process of...more

Koontz v. St. John's River Water Management District

Brief Amicus Curiae of Owners' Counsel of America in Support of the Petitioner

Today, on behalf Owners' Counsel of America, we filed this amicus brief in Koontz v. St Johns River Water Mgmt Dist., No. 11-1447 (cert. granted Oct. 5, 2012). That's the case asking whether the "essential nexus" and "rough...more

Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District

Brief Of Amici Curiae Institute For Justice And The CATO Institute In Support Of Petitioner

Coy Koontz, a Florida land owner, was denied a permit to develop his commercial property because he would not agree to use his money and labor to improve 50 acres of government-owned land miles away from his land. Improving...more

How Far Can Government Go When it Comes to Permit Conditions?

The United States Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a case brought by a property owner who challenged permit conditions imposed by the St. Johns River Water Management District for permits to develop a portion of the...more

I Saw the Sign, and It . . . Was Taken Down?

Those don't quite sound like the lyrics to the early-90's popular Ace of Base hit, "The Sign." But they likely describe the situation of many travelers on the I-10 freeway in Los Angeles thanks to a recent California Court...more

U.S. Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Koontz IV, Reviewing Decision of Florida Supreme Court

We've delved into the background of the Koontz litigation here in past posts; suffice to say that it's a legal controversy between landowner Coy Koontz and his local water management district that has gone on for years (18...more

Legal Byte: “Boundary by Agreement:” a fence alone is not enough

California landowners can agree on a boundary between their properties. However, they have to conform to specific requirements by California law....more

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States

Brief Amicus Curiae Of Pacific Legal Foundation, CATO Institute, And Atlantic Legal Foundation In Support of Petitioner

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission owns and operates 23,000 acres of land as a wildlife refuge and recreational preserve; the preserve's trees are essential to its use for these purposes. Clearwater Dam, a federal flood...more

Potential Future Takings Do Not Give Rise to Liability

A new Court of Federal Claims opinion was handed down this month coming right out of our own Southern California backyard. The case, Stueve Bros. Farms, LLC v. the United States, deals with whether a "physical taking of...more

Texas Supreme Court Heard Condemnation Case Today - $48,000 or $21 million?

Today the Texas Supreme Court heard an oral argument to decide whether a pipeline company will pay $48,000 or $21 million to condemn 24 acres for a gas processing facility. Rent was less than $23,000 annually; the...more

Property and Business Owners' Precondemnation Damages Claims Dismissed

We've covered in the past the impacts property and business owners suffer when government agencies plan for public projects. We've also covered when agency planning crosses the line and results in precondemnation damages or...more

Determining the Scope of the Resolution of Necessity in Eminent Domain Actions

Before a public agency can exercise the power of eminent domain, it must adopt a resolution of necessity making certain findings in support of the taking of property. The resolution defines the scope of the agency's...more

What is Downzoning and When is it Compensable?

"Downzoning" describes a government agency's rezoning a parcel of land once previously zoned for a more intense use to a more restrictive use (e.g., changing the commercial zoning designation of an undeveloped parcel of land...more

California Supreme Court Hears Arguments on the Future of Redevelopment

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in California Redevelopment Assn. v. Matosantos, the action filed by the California Redevelopment Association, League of California Cities and others challenging the...more

Can the Government Condition Development on Cash Payments?

On October 26, 2011, Mark Murakami presented a lecture to Hawaii landowners, land lawyers, and government officials about an important case currently being considered for review by the U.S. Supreme Court about the...more

Justice Scalia Predicts Kelo v. City of New London Will be Overturned

When we think of some of the most well-recognized and controversial decisions from our judicial system, cases like Roe v. Wade (abortion) and Dred Scott v. Sandford (slavery) come to mind. Within our group of right of way...more

Texas General Land Office v. Porretto

Opinion Reversing and Rendering Judgment for Texas GLO

After the State of Texas lost an important trial concerning state versus private ownership of beachfront property, the State retained MDJW lawyers, Levon Hovnatanian and Dale Jefferson, to represent it in further proceedings...more

Water Resources Committee Newsletter: The Role of Riparian Rights In Ecological Restoration By Nancie G. Marzulla

Introduction Environmental decisions involving water quantity and quality affect us all. After all, water in lakes, streams, and aquifers is a resource that many users must share for a multitude of purposes. And water is a...more

Marzulla Law Legal Report - April 26, 2011

In This Newsletter: - Federal Circuit Rules in Favor of Casitas Water Users Last November 2010, Casitas Municipal Water District was in trial in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., seeking damages for...more