Also known as: essential-nexus · nexus requirement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A connection between a government-imposed condition on a land-use permit and a legitimate governmental interest that would justify denying the permit outright. The connection must directly address impacts caused by the proposed development rather than advance an independent public objective.
View Construct LLC sought a permit to build a fifty-unit subdivision on coastal bluff property. The state conditioned approval on granting the public a lateral easement for beach access. The subdivision created no increased demand for beach access or related harms that the easement would mitigate. Without the required connection the condition effects a taking.
Harborview Capital LLC obtained approval for a six-story office tower only after agreeing to record a perpetual public riverfront promenade easement. The tower generated no impacts on river access that the promenade would offset. The absence of the required connection rendered the condition an unconstitutional exaction.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Nova Commerce applied for a permit to construct a big-box store with a large parking lot. The city conditioned approval on an easement for a bus rapid transit lane across the lot. City records showed the lane had been planned years earlier without reference to this project. The missing connection between the easement and any store-specific impact made the condition invalid.
CoastalRx sought permits for a secure coastal research campus. The council conditioned approval on a public bluff-top trail easement around the fenced site. The campus produced no recreational-access deficit that the trail would remedy. Lacking the necessary link the condition amounted to an uncompensated taking.
Duke Power proposed a new generating facility near a residential area. Regulators conditioned the permit on dedicating a wide buffer strip for public recreation. The plant created no recreational shortage the buffer would address. The condition failed for want of the required connection to project impacts.
Stone Creative LLC sought permits to expand its historic gallery. The city conditioned approval on an easement allowing public pedestrian access across the planned sculpture garden. The expansion produced no connectivity deficit the easement would mitigate. The missing connection rendered the condition an unconstitutional exaction.
The condition constitutes a taking under the Fifth Amendment. The government may not leverage its permitting power to obtain property interests unrelated to the burdens the development would impose.
Supporting sources
Yes. The doctrine governs exactions that require conveyance of a property interest such as an easement. Ordinary land-use regulations that do not extract property interests are evaluated under different standards.
Supporting sources
The nexus inquiry is the threshold step. If a connection exists, courts then ask whether the exaction is roughly proportional in nature and extent to the projected impact of the development.
Supporting sources
No. When the demanded interest advances an independent municipal objective rather than mitigating impacts caused by the proposed development, the required connection is absent.
Supporting sources
…The Commission’s condition is a valid exercise of its authority to regulate land use in the coastal zone. II. The Court’s new “essential nexus” test is not supported by precedent. The cases cited by the Court do not establish such a rigid requirement. III. Even under the Court’s test, the easement condition should be upheld. The…