Koontz strongvstrong. St. Johns River Water Management District Trudging.pdfVIP

MAY 2013 | Vol. 36 | No. 5 Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District: Trudging Through a Florida Wetland with Nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices John M. Baker and Katherine M. Swenson John M. Baker and Katherine M. Swenson are members of the Greene Espel PLLP law firm in Minneapolis, MN. Mr. Baker also teaches land-use law at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN. I. Introduction Supreme Court is poised to decide another case on the constitutionality of permit conditions: Koontz v. When does the government go so far in placing St. Johns River Water Management District. Specifi- conditions on the approval of a land-use permit cally, the Court has been asked to rule on whether that an unconstitutional taking results? The United the Nollan–Dolan requirements for land-use exac- States Supreme Court faced this question in Nollan tions apply to a situation where (1) the permit ap- v. California Coastal Commission1 and Dolan v. plications were denied, not granted subject to condi- City of Tigard.2 In those cases, the government had tions; and (2) the permit conditions proposed by the granted permit applications on the condition that government did not require the landowner to relin- the landowners relinquish interests in real property.3 quish a real-property interest. This article identifies The Supreme Court fashioned a set of requirements plausible