Court to decide on Building Ban

Orange County Register ^ | 1/8/02 | By MARK HELM Hearst Newspapers

[passionfruit]

WASHINGTON -- In a case that could curb environmental regulation, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday weighed whether the federal government must compensate hundreds of land owners in Lake Tahoe, Nev., who have waited decades for approval to build lakeside homes.

[passionfruit]

Solicitor General Theodore Olson, representing the federal government, defended the lack of compensation.

I love Ted Olson, and I hurt thinking about the loss of his lovely wife Barbara, but he came down on the wrong side of this issue.. I hope the views of Sandra DaO'Conner win the day.

[Fish out of Water]

Bump List

[Lurker]

"Every time a property owner applied for a building permit or every time a city enacted a zoning law, landowners would have to be compensated; ... it's just not workable," he said."

Mr. Olson is either incompetent or he deliberately made a false analogy.

Building permits and zoning laws aren't Federal cases, the situation in Tahoe is. The United States Congress passed these 'regulations', so that puts this case squarely in SCOTUS perview.

Perhaps Mr. Olson is being clever, and deliberately arguing a position he knows SCOTUS will reject.

Hey, I can hope can't I?

L

[2nd_Amendment_Defender]

Solicitor General Theodore Olson, representing the federal government, defended the lack of compensation. Granting compensation for temporary bans would put an "unbearable" burden on the government, he said.

It is an unbearable burden that the government has placed on citizens. They strip their rights of the land then say deal with it without offering one dime in compensation. If environmentalists and people in authority are going to continue to do this without compensation you might as well toss the 5th Amendment out of the Constitution. Heck who cares about the Bill of Rights, it is just a nice idea right? (gag)

[passionfruit]

I agree with you 100%. The burdon placed on the private citizen by the government is unbearable. I'm watching this case closely. I'll post the decision when it comes.