Hello,
Another question for a friend. This is Not a plea for legal advice!! Just need some case law cites if anyone has them.
Are there any notable cases in which a zoning board (township trustees, etc.) was successfully sued for enactment of zoning that resulted in loss of money for a business owner or developer? The notable case that my friend already came up with was someone vs. the South Carolina Coastal Commission. A developer had bought land to build on and sell when the zoning was voted in and forbade building on the coastal area. Eventually, the SCOTUS ruled for the plaintiff and awarded the developer $$millions for loss of revenue due to zoning.
Any similar case, where damages were awarded, maybe not in such a grand scale as the abovementioned, would be helpful to my friend.
Thanks in advance!
The original case validating zoning as constitutionally permissible is Euclid (Ohio) v. Ambler (a company)
The leading case on “taking” relative to exceedingly restrictive zoning is First English Lutheran Church vs. Coastal Commission (of California).
Elmwood may have links to these and better cases.
In essence, a “taking” only exists when the zoning regulations bar one from any reasonable use of his property. The fact that someone could make a mint selling his land to a big box department store, but it’s zoned large-lot single-family residential so they don’t want it, does not give him grounds for damages. The fact that the entire parcel is restricted from construction or harvesting of a profitable crop, makes it a taking.
Thank you, Polycarp.
I need to get my friend to sign up on the SDMB… every time he has some oddball question I can’t answer, he asks, “Will you please post it on that… Straight… whatever site you go on?”
Oh and I just realized ths is in the wrong forum. Not a debate!! Could a mod please move this?
:):)