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C. City Council Findings. • <br />1. If the council does not state the reasons for its action on the record, <br />there is a presumption that the council's action is arbitrary and <br />unreasonable.59 <br />2. If there are no findings by the council, this shifts the burden to the <br />city to show that its action was reasonable.60 This means the added <br />cost of a trial. <br />3. Findings that are adopted within a reasonable time are acceptable. <br />For example, findings adopted at the next council meeting are <br />appropriates' If it is a complex matter, additional time may be <br />necessary. <br />4. The findings must be legally sufficient and factually supported.62 Not <br />all of the findings must meet this test, as long as one does.ss <br />5. Neighborhood opposition alone is not a legally sufficient reason for <br />denial of an application.64 Such opposition may be considered, <br />however.ss <br />Nltl. THE °TAKINGS" ISSUE. <br />Landowners have increasingly challenged city land use regulations on the basis that <br />the city's action constitutes a "taking" of their property. This is based on the <br />constitutional prohibition against the government taking property without just <br />compensation. In the land use context, this is called a "regulatory taking" because <br />the government is not physically taking the property for its own use. <br />A. Federal Cases. <br />The United States Supreme Court has issued a number of opinions in recent years <br />which have attempted to define when a "taking" occurs. The following <br />summarizes some of the principles from these opinions: <br />1. The regulation must be reasonably necessary to accomplish a <br />legitimate government purpose.ss <br />2. There must be an "essential nexus" f a connection or relationship) <br />between the condition imposed by the government and the burden <br />which the development would cause. If the application can be denied, <br />then a condition can be imposed which serves the same public <br />purpose as that which would support a denial of the applications' For <br />10 <br />