Also known as: takings by regulation · regulatory takings · regulatory taking · regulatory takings clause
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A form of government interference with private property rights effected through land-use or other regulations rather than physical appropriation. Courts determine whether compensation is required by weighing the economic impact of the regulation on the claimant, the extent of interference with distinct investment-backed expectations, and the character of the governmental action.
Aurora Energy owns a riverside power plant that the State Heritage Council designates as a protected site. The designation bars demolition and major exterior changes, blocking Aurora's plan for a larger gas-fired facility. Aurora retains the ability to generate electricity at a smaller scale and to lease roof space for solar arrays, so the regulation leaves viable economic uses in place.
Tiffany Torres buys oceanfront land intending to build a single-family home. A new state coastal council rule prohibits any permanent structures on the parcel to protect dunes. The rule leaves Torres with no economically beneficial use of the land.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Tara Tran seeks a building permit to expand her hardware store. The city conditions approval on Tran dedicating a strip of her land for a public bike path. The demanded dedication lacks an essential nexus and rough proportionality to the store expansion's impact.
Tiana Tan owns a modest home inside a city redevelopment zone. The city condemns the parcel and transfers title to a private developer for a mixed-use project expected to increase tax revenue. The transfer occurs under a comprehensive economic plan rather than for a single private beneficiary.
Threshold Capital owns a chain of service stations subject to a state rent-control statute capping dealer rents. The company claims the cap destroys the value of its leasehold interests. The statute advances a legitimate public purpose without appropriating the stations themselves.
Tristan Thompson holds several undeveloped parcels around Lake Tahoe. A regional planning agency imposes a multi-year moratorium on all new construction while it studies environmental impacts. The moratorium delays but does not permanently extinguish Thompson's development rights.
A court examines the economic impact of the regulation on the claimant, the extent to which the regulation interferes with distinct investment-backed expectations, and the character of the governmental action.
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A regulation that serves a legitimate public purpose such as historic preservation and still permits reasonable beneficial uses of the property does not effect a taking.
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No. The Constitution protects against regulations that go too far, not against every restriction that blocks an owner's preferred development plan.
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A government rule that grants third parties a recurring legal right to enter private property constitutes a per se physical taking rather than a regulatory taking subject to balancing.
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When the action is a generally applicable land-use control that advances a public interest such as preservation, the character factor weighs against finding a compensable taking.
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…a given regulation would be seen as going "too far" for purposes of the Fifth Amendment. In 70-odd years of succeeding "regulatory takings" jurisprudence, we have generally eschewed any " set formula' " for determining how far is too far, preferring to "engag[e] in . . . essentially ad hoc, factual inquiries." Penn Central…