Free Republic

One of the region’s most prolific apartment builders has sued the city of Los Angeles over its COVID-19 eviction moratorium, saying his companies have experienced “astronomical” financial losses and are legally entitled to compensation from the city. Palmer’s companies allege that the moratorium...violated the “takings clause” established in the 5th Amendment, which says private property shall not be taken for public use without “just compensation.” “While the eviction moratorium ostensibly protects tenants who are unable to pay rent due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it arbitrarily shifts the financial burden onto property owners, many of whom were already...

Davenport’s battered barn to stay just that Sierra Club court victory ends plan for wine and cheese shopBy GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTERSENTINEL STAFF WRITERDAVENPORT — David Luers had a dream: Buy the dilapidated barn off Highway 1, demolish it and build a wine and cheese shop he’d run with his wife. Santa Cruz County officials approved the plan, as did the state Coastal Commission.But nine years after buying the abandoned structure at Highway 1, Old Coast Road and Davenport Avenue, Luers is living in Idaho, where he’s running a gift shop and wondering how he can unload the property.Earlier this month, a...

Something has gone awry in rural King County. Across farmland and along country roads, a seething anger is spreading. Residents from North Bend to Enumclaw to Vashon Island say they have never been more furious with the government meant to serve them. In recent months, they've accused county leaders of dumping unwanted projects on unincorporated land and ignoring concerns of those outside the urban core. The frustration — playing out in the courts, the Legislature and in people's back yards — has turned into the seeds of rural rebellion: • Furious over the passage of new restrictions on how their...