Wednesday, December 2, 2009

SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments in Florida Shoreline Case

In October, Hawaii Land Use Law previewed Stop the Beach Renourishment Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, wherein the US Supreme Court will consider placing constitutional limits on Florida’s authority to restore storm-eroded beaches along the ocean or lakeshores, when such action modifies private property boundary lines.  The case was heard today and audio of the oral arguments will be posted on the Oyez website.

This case is similar to Maunalua Beach Ohana v. Hawaii, which was recenlty heard by Hawaii's Intermediate Court of Appeals as discussed in Oral Argument in Shoreline Ownership Case Posted.  In Maunalua, similar to Stop the Beach Renourishment, littoral landowners challenge state laws which take away their common law right to gain land by accretion.  Among other things, both cases are based on regulatory takings for the state's failure to compensate property owners for taking private property through regulation.

For more on shoreline issue, see Shoreline.

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