Articles

Court of appeal upholds Coastal Commission’s rejection of San Diego hotel plan

September 12, 2018 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Late last week, the California Fourth District Court of Appeal issued an unpublished decision in San Diego Unified Port District v. California Coastal Commission. Reversing the trial court, the court of appeal held that the Commission correctly denied the San Diego Port District’s master plan amendment. The amendment would have changed the cu ...

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PLF asks the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that there is no “legislative exception” to the unconstitutional conditions doctrine

July 09, 2018 | By BRIAN HODGES

It seems that some governments and courts prefer to treat Supreme Court precedent as an option, rather than a requirement. The Supreme Court has ruled—twice—that it’s unconstitutional for government to charge permitting fees when the fees have nothing to do with the reason for the permit. Yet some courts continue to ignore the Constitutio ...

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Should legislative property demands be exempt from constitutional scrutiny?

July 14, 2017 | By BRIAN HODGES

The answer to that question seems rather obvious to property owners—if the government demands that you give up a portion of your property in exchange for a development permit, why should it matter what particular branch is making the demand? After all, the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution broadly prohibits the government from taking R ...

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Washington court rules that the right to use one's property is not protected by the constitution

June 23, 2017 | By BRIAN HODGES

Earlier this week, the Washington State Court of Appeals issued its decision in Olympic Stewardship Foundation v. State of Washington Environmental and Land Use Hearings Office, in which PLF submitted an amicus brief.  The decision upholds a Jefferson County ordinance that requires all shoreline property owners to dedicate a 150-foot buffer as a m ...

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Weekly litigation update — May 6, 2017

May 06, 2017 | By JAMES BURLING

Intervention filed in Congressional Review Act case As has been widely reported elsewhere, Congress and the Administration have dusted off the Congressional Review Act and have set about rescinding a series of Obama-era regulations. You can read more about that on our CRA-themed website, RedTapeRollback.com. Much credit for this recent effort goes ...

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Supreme Court directs West Hollywood to respond to PLF’s legislative exactions challenge

April 28, 2017 | By BRIAN HODGES

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the City of West Hollywood to respond to PLF’s certiorari petition in the legislative exactions case, 616 Croft Ave, LLC v. City of West Hollywood. As you may recall, the 616 Croft Ave. petition asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review a California Court of Appeal decision … ...

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PLF asks the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that there is no “legislative exception” to the unconstitutional conditions doctrine

March 21, 2017 | By BRIAN HODGES

On Friday, PLF attorneys filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case, 616 Croft Ave, LLC v. City of West Hollywood. The petition asks the Court to review a California Court of Appeal decision holding that a city or county can force landowners to dedicate private property … ...

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CCC tries to conveniently forget Supreme Court precedent

January 04, 2017 | By JEREMY TALCOTT

According to the California Coastal Commission staff, any permit where public access has not been granted can be automatically appealed on the grounds that California likes public access. A standard that weak is no standard at all, and certainly not what the legislature intended when it provided only limited grounds for appeal under section 30625 ...

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PLF petition seeks review of West Hollywood’s extortionate “affordable-housing” scheme

December 02, 2016 | By BRIAN HODGES

Earlier today, PLF attorneys filed the reply brief in 616 Croft Ave, LLC v. City of West Hollywood. As you may recall, this case arose from the City’s demand that husband and wife entrepreneurs Shelah and Jonathan Lehrer-Graiwer pay a $540,000 “affordable housing” fee in order to get the necessary permits to build new homes. R ...