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- Land use (8)
- Regulatory takings (6)
- Takings (6)
- Exactions (4)
- Property (4)
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- Zoning (4)
- Planning (3)
- Dolan v. City of Tigard (2)
- Eminent domain (2)
- Euclid v. Ambler (2)
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- Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council (2)
- Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (2)
- Progressivism (2)
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- Regulatory Takings (2)
- Affordable housing (1)
- Antiquities Act of 1906 (1)
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- City of Edmonds v. Oxford House (1)
- City planning (1)
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Articles 1 - 23 of 23
Full-Text Articles in Law
Zoning Reformed, Michael Allan Wolf
Zoning Reformed, Michael Allan Wolf
UF Law Faculty Publications
It has been roughly a century since early advocates of zoning took notice of how crowded and congested housing conditions contributed to the spread of disease (including the then-recent H1N1 pandemic). The U.S. Supreme Court had just rejected on property rights grounds a city ordinance that expressly segregated neighborhoods by race. One hundred years later, the exposure of the weaknesses embedded in our system of public land use regulation during the crises of 2020 presents a unique and timely opportunity for serious consideration of major and minor adjustments to state statutes, local ordinances, and judicial decisions. This Article calls for …
A Common Law Of Zoning, Michael Allan Wolf
A Common Law Of Zoning, Michael Allan Wolf
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article for the first time identifies a common law of zoning, describes the typology of this essential and overlooked element of American land use law, and establishes the historical and structural context for its pervasive set of rules and principles. Over the past 100 years, American judges, filling in the gaps and resolving the ambiguities of a surprisingly uniform set of state enabling statutes, have produced this body of common law. The story will take the reader to Iowa cornfields that surround an iconic baseball diamond; to a federal agency that gave an important impetus to the nationwide adoption …
A Requiem For Regulatory Takings: Reclaiming Eminent Domain For Constitutional Property Claims, Danaya C. Wright
A Requiem For Regulatory Takings: Reclaiming Eminent Domain For Constitutional Property Claims, Danaya C. Wright
UF Law Faculty Publications
For the past forty years, the United States Supreme Court has embraced the doctrine of regulatory takings, despite being unable to provide any coherent and reliable guidance on when a regulation goes so far as to require compensation. But Justice Thomas's admission in Murr v. Wisconsin (2017) that there is no real historical basis for the Court's regulatory takings jurisprudence offers a chance to reconsider the doctrine anew. Looking back to Justice Holmes's prophetic statement in Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, that a regulation can go too far and require an exercise of eminent domain to sustain it, I argue …
The National Flood Insurance Program At Fifty: How The Fifth Amendment Takings Doctrine Skews Federal Flood Policy, Christine A. Klein
The National Flood Insurance Program At Fifty: How The Fifth Amendment Takings Doctrine Skews Federal Flood Policy, Christine A. Klein
UF Law Faculty Publications
The National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”) of 1968 marked its fiftieth anniversary in 2018. Despite the program’s long history, few appreciate that the NFIP was never intended as a permanent federal subsidy for flood-prone properties along rivers and coastlines abandoned as commercially unviable by the private insurance industry. Instead, Congress provided flood insurance at below-cost rates as only an interim solution until state and local governments enacted permanent self-help land-use regulations that would restrict development in risky areas. By encouraging local governments to enact floodplain regulations, Congress intended to shift the costs of development in known flood areas back to …
Substantive Due Process By Another Name: Koontz, Exactions, And The Regulatory Takings Doctrine, Mark Fenster
Substantive Due Process By Another Name: Koontz, Exactions, And The Regulatory Takings Doctrine, Mark Fenster
UF Law Faculty Publications
In Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, a 5-4 majority of the United States Supreme Court reversed a state court decision that had limited the application of Nollan v. California Coastal Commission and Dolan v. City of Tigard. Nollan and Dolan concern the imposition of regulatory conditions on proposed development, also called exactions, which commonly occurs in land use regulation. In Koontz, a property owner challenged a regulatory agency's denial of his permit application following failed negotiations over exactions. The Florida Supreme Court had concluded that Nollan and Dolan did not extend to conditions that …
Conservation Easements And The "Term Creep" Problem, Michael Allan Wolf
Conservation Easements And The "Term Creep" Problem, Michael Allan Wolf
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Essay first discusses the “term creep” problem that has long plagued the Anglo-American common law of real property, that is, the tendency of common law courts (and in turn commentators and legislators) to use the same label to describe two or more conceptually discrete, though related, concepts. The confusion between easements of the “traditional” and “conservation” varieties is just one in a long line of situations in which the decision to allow often significantly dissimilar concepts to share the same name has led to unfortunate consequences. The second part of the Essay explains the substantive nature of the hybrids …
Failed Exactions, Mark Fenster
Failed Exactions, Mark Fenster
UF Law Faculty Publications
This symposium essay considers the doctrinal quandary created by 'failed exactions' - regulatory conditions on property development that government agencies contemplate but that are never finalized or enforced, usually because the property owner rejects them. A narrow but conceptually challenging issue to the relationship between the unconstitutional conditions doctrine and regulatory takings law, failed exactions could prove profoundly unsettling to current land use practices. A decade ago, the issue of whether failed exactions deserve heightened scrutiny prompted Justice Scalia to issue a dissent from a denial of petition for certiorari in which he stated, somewhat tentatively, that an extortionate demand …
A Yellow Light For “Green Zoning”: Some Words Of Caution About Incorporating Green Building Standards Into Local Land Use Law, Michael Allan Wolf
A Yellow Light For “Green Zoning”: Some Words Of Caution About Incorporating Green Building Standards Into Local Land Use Law, Michael Allan Wolf
UF Law Faculty Publications
The focus of this essay is a growing practice to which we can attach the label “Green Zoning” — the incorporation of LEED and competing privately generated standards into local government law, as part of the existing zoning or land use ordinance, or as a free-standing green building ordinance. After reviewing some of the pertinent literature on this topic, this essay will highlight and provide illustrations of six problems with Green Zoning practices: 1. The Delegation Problem — Can and should local laws be based on a moving target (standards set by private parties that continue to change and evolve)? …
The Stubborn Incoherence Of Regulatory Takings, Mark Fenster
The Stubborn Incoherence Of Regulatory Takings, Mark Fenster
UF Law Faculty Publications
The Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc. was met with restrained but largely appreciative notice by commentators. Lingle declared that the Takings Clause affirmatively protects property owners by awarding them compensation for regulations that impose the functional equivalent of a condemnation of their property. The regulatory takings doctrine thus differs from the substantive due process doctrine, which instead reviews the validity of a regulation and offers as its remedy the invalidation of an offending government action. Clearing the underbrush that had grown in nearly a century of Supreme Court precedent, the Court appeared to have made …
The New Nuisance: An Antidote To Wetland Loss, Sprawl, And Global Warming, Christine A. Klein
The New Nuisance: An Antidote To Wetland Loss, Sprawl, And Global Warming, Christine A. Klein
UF Law Faculty Publications
Marking the fifteenth anniversary of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council -- the modern U.S. Supreme Court's seminal regulatory takings decision -- this Article surveys Lucas's impact upon regulations that restrict wetland filling, sprawling development, and the emission of greenhouse gases. The Lucas Court set forth a new categorical rule of governmental liability for regulations that prohibit all economically beneficial use of land, but also established a new defense that draws upon the states' common law of nuisance and property. Unexpectedly, that defense has taken on a life of its own -- forming what this Article calls the new …
The Takings Clause, Version 2005: The Legal Process Of Constitutional Property Rights, Mark Fenster
The Takings Clause, Version 2005: The Legal Process Of Constitutional Property Rights, Mark Fenster
UF Law Faculty Publications
The search for coherence in takings jurisprudence has resulted in a multitude of theories but no consensus. Each theory -- whether based on conceptions of common law property rights or constitutional conceptions of justice, or based on utility, natural law, or communitarian or republican conceptions of the good --offers significant insight into the vexing legal, political, and normative issues that judicial enforcement of the Takings Clause raises. But no single theory of property or of constitutional limits on state regulation and expropriation has proven capable either of satisfactorily rationalizing existing takings law or of persuading the courts or the theory's …
Mississippi River Stories: Lessons From A Century Of Unnatural Disasters, Christine A. Klein, Sandra B. Zellmer
Mississippi River Stories: Lessons From A Century Of Unnatural Disasters, Christine A. Klein, Sandra B. Zellmer
UF Law Faculty Publications
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the nation pondered how a relatively weak Category 3 storm could have destroyed an entire region. Few appreciated the extent to which a flawed federal water development policy transformed this apparently natural disaster into a "manmade" disaster; fewer still appreciated how the disaster was the predictable, and indeed predicted, sequel to almost a century of similar disasters. This Article focuses upon three such stories: the Great Flood of 1927, the Midwest Flood of 1993, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005. Taken together, the stories reveal important lessons, including the inadequacy of engineered flood …
Supreme Guidance For Wet Growth: Lessons From The High Court On The Powers And Responsibilities Of Local Governments, Michael Allan Wolf
Supreme Guidance For Wet Growth: Lessons From The High Court On The Powers And Responsibilities Of Local Governments, Michael Allan Wolf
UF Law Faculty Publications
Before the merger of water law and land use planning can occur, local and state regulators need strong guidance from experts in the field, not only in extra-legal fields such as planning, hydrology, geology, engineering, biology, and transportation, but also in mainstream legal areas including legislation (local, state, and federal), administrative law, and enforcement. The purpose of this article is to identify a somewhat unorthodox source of guidance - the United States Supreme Court, specifically the Rehnquist Court from October, 1984, through June, 2005, a period of remarkable stability for the nation’s highest tribunal.
Regulating Land Use In A Constitutional Shadow: The Institutional Contexts Of Exactions, Mark Fenster
Regulating Land Use In A Constitutional Shadow: The Institutional Contexts Of Exactions, Mark Fenster
UF Law Faculty Publications
The regulatory takings doctrine, the Supreme Court declared in Lingle v. Chevron, concerns the effects of a regulation on the incidents of property ownership. It serves as a constitutional protection against regulations that impose the functional equivalent to a classic taking of private property (an appropriation by the state or an ouster), and it requires compensation for owners who are subject to such regulations. Just as significant as declaring what the regulatory takings doctrine is, theCourt in Lingle also declared what it is not: it is not a judicial check onthe validity or reasonableness of a regulation that …
Yes, Thankfully, Euclid Lives, Charles M. Haara, Michael Allan Wolf
Yes, Thankfully, Euclid Lives, Charles M. Haara, Michael Allan Wolf
UF Law Faculty Publications
Professors Haar and Wolf reiterate their endorsement of Progressive jurisprudence, as embodied in the Supreme Court's opinion in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., despite Professor Eric Claeys's effort to expose the political theory underlying Progressive legal thought. They highlight problems with Professor Claeys's portrayal of the actual practice of zoning and with his use of history, problems that seriously undercut Professor Claeys's findings regarding the political beliefs of early zoning and planning advocates, the evolution of zoning law in the courts, and the role natural law played in American legal history.
Takings Formalism And Regulatory Formulas: Exactions And The Consequences Of Clarity, Mark Fenster
Takings Formalism And Regulatory Formulas: Exactions And The Consequences Of Clarity, Mark Fenster
UF Law Faculty Publications
A vocal minority of the U.S. Supreme Court recently announced its suspicion that lower courts and state and local administrative agencies are systematically ignoring constitutional rules intended to limit, through heightened judicial review, exactions as a land use regulatory tool. This article argues that the Court's suspicions are well founded but that blame for judicial and administrative noncompliance lies with the Court's bifurcated approach to the Takings Clause.
A New Time For Denominators - Toward A Dynamic Theory Of Property In The Regulatory Takings Relevant Parcel Analysis, Danaya C. Wright
A New Time For Denominators - Toward A Dynamic Theory Of Property In The Regulatory Takings Relevant Parcel Analysis, Danaya C. Wright
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article explores the question of how the courts should calculate the denominator in the just compensation equation. The denominator is the amount of property a claimant owns, against which the effects of regulation will be measured. If a landowner owns a single acre that is severely regulated, the takings fraction for the amount of property taken compared to that owned will approach one. If, on the other hand, the landowner owns 100 acres and only one is regulated, the amount of harm is only 1% in comparison to the total amount owned. This Article advocates a paradigm shift in …
Preserving Monumental Landscapes Under The Antiquities Act, Christine A. Klein
Preserving Monumental Landscapes Under The Antiquities Act, Christine A. Klein
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article examines the Antiquities Act, a 1906 statute that delegates authority to the President to establish national monuments on federal lands for the protection of prehistoric structures and relics. This modest statute, originally a scant one page in length, has set off a century of intermittent controversy that its drafters could not have anticipated. Although Congress probably intended that the statute merely protect archaeological ruins from looting by treasure hunters, presidents quickly began to utilize the statute to preserve large natural landscapes -- ranging from President Theodore Roosevelt's establishment of the 800,000-acre Grand Canyon National Monument in 1908 to …
Euclid Lives: The Survival Of Progressive Jurisprudence, Charles M. Haara, Michael Allan Wolf
Euclid Lives: The Survival Of Progressive Jurisprudence, Charles M. Haara, Michael Allan Wolf
UF Law Faculty Publications
The Supreme Court's expanded use of regulatory takings is making a highly controversial and confusing concept more difficult to apply and defend. The Court and commentators are invited to explore a different approach-- Progressive jurisprudence, as represented by the Court's enduring opinion in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co . This Commentary examines the reinvigoration of the Takings Clause and, in historical and ideological terms, discusses the Progressiveness of Euclid and of the regulatory scheme the Euclid Court approved. Professors Haar and Wolf identify and explore five inquiries concerning the character of regulations affecting the use, ownership, and value …
Earning Deference: Reflections On The Merger Of Environmental And Land-Use Law, Michael Allan Wolf
Earning Deference: Reflections On The Merger Of Environmental And Land-Use Law, Michael Allan Wolf
UF Law Faculty Publications
The bedrock notion that courts should, in the overwhelming majority of cases, defer to lawmakers is currently under attack in the nation's courts, commentary and classrooms. Leading the way are several United States Supreme Court Justices who, in cases involving the Commerce Clause, the Takings Clause and Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment, are much more willing than their immediate predecessors to second-guess the motives and tactics of elected and appointed officials at all levels of government. Given this new juris-political reality, it is more important than ever that local government officials--who are often (though, certainly, not always justifiably) viewed …
Integrating Water Management And Land Use Planning: Uncovering The Missing Link In The Protection Of Florida's Water Resources?, Mary Jane Angelo
Integrating Water Management And Land Use Planning: Uncovering The Missing Link In The Protection Of Florida's Water Resources?, Mary Jane Angelo
UF Law Faculty Publications
Except for limited provisions, Florida law does not establish a formal link between land planning and water planning. In light of the importance of water resources for the future development of the State, this is a significant "missing link." Land use planners and water managers live in very different worlds and speak very different languages. Water managers point to poor planning as the cause of environmentally inappropriate development, and planners point to the shortcomings of water management regulatory programs as the cause of environmental woes. So what is the problem?Why are water management and planning not better integrated? Should they …
A Remedy On Paper: The Role Of Law In The Failure Of City Planning In New Haven, 1907-1913, Mark Fenster
A Remedy On Paper: The Role Of Law In The Failure Of City Planning In New Haven, 1907-1913, Mark Fenster
UF Law Faculty Publications
Part I of this paper provides an overview of the dominant conservative legal doctrines and governing practices that limited planners' goals and strategies in New Haven during the period from 1907 through 1913, and that planning advocates sought to change. Part II provides a narrative of the New Haven planning movement prior to the publication of a 1910 report by Cass Gilbert, a well-known New York-based architect, and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., a nationally recognized city planner, on how best to improve New Haven's physical environment and infrastructure. To illustrate the difficulties facing the nascent planning movement in New Haven, …
A Model Wetlands Protection Ordinance: Legal Considerations, Mary Jane Angelo
A Model Wetlands Protection Ordinance: Legal Considerations, Mary Jane Angelo
UF Law Faculty Publications
Many counties in Florida are currently in the process of developing new wetlands protection ordinances, or revising old ones. While public policy supports strict regulation of activities in wetlands, many counties are reluctant to adopt restrictive ordinances because of the potential for large damages awards if the regulations are later found to be temporary takings. Recent Supreme Court case law has upheld the payment of compensation as an appropriate remedy for overly restrictive land use regulations compounding the fears of local governments. This paper summarizes the legal implications of a Model Wetlands Protection Ordinance developed by the author. In particular, …