Landowners Win Again at Supreme Court Over Permitting Fees (1)

A California county may have violated the US Constitution when it required a landowner to pay more than $23,000 in fees in order to build on his property, the Supreme Court said.

The 9-0 ruling on Friday, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, sent the case back to state court to consider whether the so-called unconstitutional conditions doctrine prohibits the fees. That principle says localities can’t charge unrelated fees as a condition to build on privately owned land, without violating the Constitution’s Takings Clause.

The lower court held the doctrine, also known as the Nollan/Dolan test, didn’t apply to generally ...