conarb
Registered User
With all the press the Supreme Court got this week on the gay rights, voting, and affirmative action decisions, few have noticed a hopefully blockbuster decision for builders/developers.
Hopefully this case can be used as a precedent to stop government agencies from using the permit process to extort money from us for the "privilege" of building, a fellow contractor recently paid a $67,000 affordable housing fee to permit a $1 million house remodel.
¹ Release - PLF statement on Koontz property rights victory at the Supreme Court - Pacific Legal Foundation
We have to pay all kinds of mitigation fees to permit a simple house, to subdivide property we have to deed property to government agencies for parks or other public uses, or convert large areas of land to unusable greenbelts. The court has ruled that there must be a reasonable connection to our usage, the government can't use the permit process to extort money from us. Here in California we have an affordable housing law, when even permitting a simple house we have to pay many thousands of dollars in fees to support affordable housing, I see no nexus between a man permitting a new home and the provision of homes for the poor, which is really integrating the poor into wealthy communities.\ said:“The ruling is a powerful victory for everybody’s constitutional property rights, from coast to coast,” Beard continued. “The Koontz family was challenging permit demands that were wildly excessive and had no connection to their land use proposal. Today, the court recognized that the Koontz family was the victim of an unconstitutional taking. The court’s message is clear: Government can’t turn the land use permitting process into an extortion machine.“The ruling underscores that homeowners and other property owners who seek permits to make reasonable use of their property cannot be forced to surrender their rights,” Beard stated. “Regulators can’t hold permit applicants hostage with unjustified demands for land or other concessions — including, as in this case, unjustified demands for money.
“The court has recognized that money is a form of property, and the Constitution prohibits grabbing money from property owners the same way it prohibits grabbing land without compensation,” Beard said.
“The Koontz family sought permission to develop a few acres in Central Florida, and they were told they must spend up to $150,000 to improve the government’s property, miles away from the Koontz family’s land,” Beard explained. “This demand was far in excess of any impact that their land use proposal would create. They fought this injustice in the courts for nearly two decades, and today they have won a landmark decision, for themselves and all property owners. Their victory protects all permit applicants from government extortion. Everyone who values constitutional property rights owes the Koontz family a debt of gratitude for this historic victory.”¹
Hopefully this case can be used as a precedent to stop government agencies from using the permit process to extort money from us for the "privilege" of building, a fellow contractor recently paid a $67,000 affordable housing fee to permit a $1 million house remodel.
¹ Release - PLF statement on Koontz property rights victory at the Supreme Court - Pacific Legal Foundation