In a dispute over a traffic impact fee imposed on a residential building permit by El Dorado County, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected the long-standing position of California and other state courts that the Takings...more
The U.S. Supreme Court last week unanimously held that the Takings Clause of the Constitution prevents legislatures, as well as administrative agencies, from imposing unconstitutional conditions on land-use permits....more
Summary - The Supreme Court of the United States announced that it will hear a Takings Clause case under the Fifth Amendment that will clarify whether permit exaction fees authorized by legislation are exempt from the...more
Grajales v. Commissioner - In Grajales v. Comm’r of Internal Revenue, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit addressed whether the ten percent exaction under Section 72(t) (Exaction) is considered a...more
In Alliance for Responsible Planning v. Taylor, the Third District Court of Appeal recently struck down a voter initiative requiring a developer to fund all cumulative traffic mitigation as a condition precedent to project...more
In these unprecedented, economically-challenging times for the aviation industry, it is especially important that airlines, manufacturers and other industry stakeholders have an accessible avenue open to them for pursuing...more
CHRISTY, INC. v. UNITED STATES - Before LOURIE, REYNA, and HUGHES. Appeal from the Court of Federal Claims. Summary: The government’s refusal to refund patent issue and maintenance fees after patent claims are canceled...more
Last week was apparently CFC week at the Federal Circuit, with several precedential decisions in government contracts and Tucker Act cases. Below we give our usual week’s statistics and case of the week—our highly subjective...more
Twenty years was a reasonable period of time for a public agency to accept a right-of-way dedication offer by physically occupying the property. Prout v. Department of Transportation, 31 Cal. App. 5th 200 (2019). Prout...more
On May 9, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) affirmed in part and reversed in part an earlier decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which had held that aspects of the...more
Virginia Code § 15.2-2303.4, the Proffer Reform Bill, went into effect on July 1, 2016. The bill was an effort by the Virginia General Assembly to overhaul localities’ proffer programs. ...more
Last year, my partner Ben Rubin reported on the California Supreme Court’s decision in California Building Industry Association v. City of San Jose, which analyzed an inclusionary housing ordinance and held that such...more
In the 2015 session, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed House Bill 383 to address unconstitutional conditions by government agencies on the use of private property in Florida. This expands the existing Bert...more
Requirement to construct or provide affordable housing is permissible under California Constitution police powers - This week, in a long awaited decision, California Building Industry Association v. City of San Jose,...more
2013 was a banner year for developers under the takings clause, as both the U.S. Supreme Court and California Supreme Court issued decisions expanding the developers’ ability to challenge exactions as unconstitutional. In...more
In a decision with major repercussions for the building industry in California, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected a constitutional challenge to San Jose's affordable housing ordinance. California Building...more
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last year in Koontz v. St. John's River Water Management District received quite a bit of national coverage in the development world. If you'll recall, Koontz held that the nexus and...more
If you have ever filed a zoning application and been subjected at the public hearing to a version of the game show “Let’s Make a Deal,” you may find of interest a June 2013 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that addresses...more
Many real estate industry professionals are familiar with the government's substantial power and discretion in land-use permitting. Land-use applicants on the verge of lucrative development opportunities find themselves in a...more