Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Half Moon Bay Revisited

In a post last December 1, I reported the $37 million judgment awarded to the owner of 24 acres of oceanfront land in Half Moon Bay, California -- 18 miles south-southwest of San Francisco Int'l Airport. In Yamagiwa v. City of Half Moon Bay, a U.S. District Judge held that the city, in imposing a series of land development regulations, and excavating nearby areas for stormwater drainage -- that converted the property into undevelopable wetlands -- had "taken" the property and was liable for $37 million in Just Compensation.

In his March 2008 newsletter, Just Compensation, Gideon Kanner noted that the parties had settled. In that agreement, the city will either allow the landowner to develop the property for residential use. If it fails in that endeavor (presumably a euphemism for the California Coastal Commission's lead feet) the city will have to pay the owner $18,000,000.

Monroe County and the State of Florida will please take note of this interesting "development," and think hard about whether they want to keep on heading for the same treatment.

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