Real Estate & Property Law

Friday Round-Up: Kagan On Property, RLUIPA, Second Amendment, CEQA, And Title VII (Yes, Title VII)

Posted on July 02, 2010
What we're reading today - not all of it property or land use law related: SCOTUS Nominee Kagan on Property Rights (The Eminent Domain Law Blog) River of Life Kingdom Ministries v. Villlage of Hazel Crest, No. 08-2819 (7th Cir.,...

Are Property Rights A "Conservative" Issue?

Posted on July 01, 2010
Think property rights are a "conservative" issue? To challenge that notion, read Displaced Landowners Fight to Reclaim Georgia Home in today's New York Times. It tells the story of African-American property owners whose homes were condemned years ago, who now...

Wednesday Potpourri: Inverse Condemnation And Beaches, Rail Takings, And More "Adult-Oriented" Land Use

Posted on June 30, 2010
Here are items we're reading today, in no particular order: Bill Ward's thoughts on Klumpp v. City of Avalon, the recent New Jersey Supreme Court case about inverse condemnation and beach restoration. Our take here. From Honolulu Civil Beat comes...

They Really Are Moving Father's Grave To Build ... An Airport

Posted on June 30, 2010
Here's the latest development in the ongoing life imitating art saga of the the use of eminent domain to take property in St. Johannes Cemetery for the expansion of O'Hare airport. Appellate court hears arguments in O'Hare cemetery case is...

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Guest Post: Beach Decision Draws No New Line In Sand

Posted on June 29, 2010
Today, we bring you guest commentary on Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-1151 (June 17, 2010), last week's Supreme Court decision on judicial takings and ownership of replenished beaches. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Beach Decision Draws...

Seventh Circuit: Claim A Wind Farm Is A Taking Is Tilting At Windmills

Posted on June 28, 2010
In Muscarello v. Ogle County Board of Commissioners, No. 08-2464 (June 24, 2010), the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed as unripe a claim the county's grant of a special use permit to a neighboring property owner allowing it to construct...

We're Going To Nominate The 11th Circuit's "Porn Dorm" Case For A 2010 ZiPLeR Award

Posted on June 28, 2010
Our colleague Dwight Merriam reminds us that last year, a case related to a decision we posted about a couple of days ago was awarded a ZiPLeR. Now in its thirteenth year, the award is presented by the Zoning and...

Friday's Columbia "Blight" Case (Kaur) Links

Posted on June 25, 2010
Here's a round-up of reports and analysis of yesterday's opinion by the New York Court of Appeals in the "Columbia U. blight" case, Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp., No. 125: "Judicial review of eminent domain in New...

11th Circuit: Internet Porn Dorm Is "Business" In A Residential Zone

Posted on June 25, 2010
Most municipal zoning codes prohibit the operation of a "business" in a residential zone. Does this mean you can't have a "home office" or take work-related calls at home? In most circumstances, doing so does not run afoul of the...

Permit Condition Requiring "Active" Farming Struck Down Under Nollan/Dolan

Posted on June 24, 2010
We rarely post developments from trial courts, but every now and then a trial court order is so interesting that we deviate from our usual rule. Here's one that's worth sharing. In Sterling v. California Coastal Comm'n, No. CIV. 482448...

New York Still Has "Unfrozen Caveman Judges" Who Are "Frightened And Confused" By Eminent Domain Blight

Posted on June 24, 2010
More on today's opinion in the "Columbia U. blight" case, Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp., No. 125. As we noted in our critique of the Atlantic Yards case (Goldstein), New York judges apparently are too "frightened and...

There Really Are No Limits To Eminent Domain In New York - Court Of Appeals Reverses The Columbia Case (Kaur)

Posted on June 24, 2010
The New York Court of Appeals today reversed the Columbia "blight" case, Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp., No. 125 (June 24, 2010). The unanimous opinion came swiftly (oral arguments were just under a month ago), suggesting it...

Oral Argument Recording In Ninth Circuit Rent Control Taking Case (Guggenheim)

Posted on June 23, 2010
Yesterday, we attended and posted a long summary of the en banc oral arguments in Guggenheim v. City of Goleta, the case challenging the city's mobile home rent control ordinance as a regulatory taking, now pending in the Ninth Circuit....

Chief Justice William S. Richardson (1919 - 2010)

Posted on June 22, 2010
There are, have been, and will be other Chief Justices of the Hawaii Supreme Court. But only one "CJ." More here.

NJ Supreme Court And The "Bizarre Condemnation" - Klumpp v. Borough of Avalon

Posted on June 22, 2010
The New Jersey Supreme Court today issued a unanimous opinion in Klumpp v. Borough of Avalon, No. A-49-09 (Jun. 22, 2010), the case the New Jersey Law Journal described as the "bizarre condemnation" after the Appellate Division held that the...

Ninth Circuit Rent Control Taking Case (Guggenheim) En Banc Oral Argument Report pt. III

Posted on June 22, 2010
Continued from Part II The court was not much easier on the City's attorney, even though one might think that the hard time they gave the property owners' counsel indicated they were more sympathetic to the City's arguments. Right off...

Ninth Circuit Rent Control Taking Case (Guggenheim) En Banc Oral Argument Report pt. II

Posted on June 22, 2010
Continued from Part I Coldron seemed to sense that the court was in danger of veering off track and buying into the argument in the amicus brief filed by the League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties...

Ninth Circuit Rent Control Taking Case (Guggenheim) En Banc Oral Argument Report pt. I

Posted on June 22, 2010
Even in the rarefied, academic atmosphere of an appellate court, an advocate must sometimes have a thick skin. Today's Ninth Circuit en banc oral arguments in the rent control takings case, Guggenheim v. City of Goleta, was one where the...

Perpetual Campaigns And Hawaii's "Resign To Run" Requirement

Posted on June 21, 2010
Today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser runs the editorial Perk of incumbency: Unequal time, about Hawaii's "resign to run" requirement (article II, section 7 of the Hawaii Constitution), particularly the interplay with equal time in broadcast media: The cynic might say that elected...

Ninth Circuit Rent Control Takings Case (Guggenheim) Preview

Posted on June 21, 2010
The Ninth Circuit's en banc rent control takings case, set for oral argument in Pasadena tomorrow, has generated big interest. In Guggenheim v. City of Goleta, 582 F.3d 996 (9th Cir., Sep. 28, 2009), a three-judge panel of the U.S....

U.S. Supreme Court Declines Review Of Wisconsin's Application Of The Undivided Fee Rule

Posted on June 21, 2010
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review in City of Milwaukee Post No. 2874 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States v. Redevelopment Agency of the City of Milwaukee, No. 09-1204 (cert. petition filed Apr. 2, 2010). This is...

NY Times On Stop The Beach Renourishment: Justice Thurgood Marshall Had "Harebrained" Ideas

Posted on June 19, 2010
In its Thursday editorial, Common Sense and Private Property, the New York Times barely conceals its derision for both the property owners who instituted takings claims in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No...

Friday's Stop The Beach Renourishment (Judicial Takings) Links

Posted on June 18, 2010
Here's a round up of the latest commentary and analysis of yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-1151. Common Sense and Private Property - New York Times editorial...

Stop The Beach Links

Posted on June 17, 2010
Here are some links to analysis of today's U.S. Supreme Court opinions in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11: Stop the Beach: The Difference a Recusal Can Make (Blog of Legal Times) Supreme...

First Summary And Analysis Of Stop The Beach Renourishment Judicial Takings Case

Posted on June 17, 2010
Professor Ben Barros has posted the first analysis and summary of today's Supreme Court opinions in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11. See Supreme Court Rules in Stop the Beach. The Supreme Court...

Scalia, J.: "How Much Wood Would A Woodchuck Chuck If A Woodchuck..."

Posted on June 17, 2010
Things I never thought I would see in a Supreme Court opinion include the riddle "how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood," but there it is, in black and white on page 11 of...

Opinion In Judicial Takings Case - Stop The Beach Renourishment v. Florida Dept Of Environmental Protection

Posted on June 17, 2010
This just in: the Supreme Court has issued opinions in the judicial takings case, Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted June 15, 2009): JUSTICE SCALIA delivered the opinion of the Court...

ABA Panel On Stop The Beach Renourishment (San Francisco, 8/6/2010)

Posted on June 17, 2010
Today's U.S. Supreme Court decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 is generating a lot of analysis and commentary. When the case was filed and argued, we suspected it would generate keen....

A Regulatory Takings Glossary (or, How to Translate Property Rights Lawyerspeak)

Posted on June 16, 2010
The WMA Reporter, the monthly publication of the Western Manufactured Communities Housing Association has published A Regulatory Takings Glossary (or, How to Translate Property Rights Lawyerspeak), my short article that attempts to deconstruct some of the more common terms property...

June 22 Oral Arguments In Ninth Circuit Rent Control Takings Case (Guggenheim)

Posted on June 15, 2010
On Tuesday, June 22, 2010 starting at 2:00 p.m., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear oral arguments in the en banc review of a takings challenge to the City of Goleta's mobile home rent control...

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