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• WHAT CAN A PLANNER EXPECT <br /> FROM THE JUNE 9 U.S . SUPREME COURT <br /> LAND USE DECISION <br /> On June 9 , 1987 the United States Supreme Court announced its <br /> opinion on a land use "taking" case in the State of California . <br /> The Court held that the Just Compensation Clause of the First <br /> Amendment to the Constitution requires that a government must pay <br /> landowner value of use when all use of the land has been denied <br /> the landowner through a regulation adopted by the government . <br /> Supreme Court Justice Stevens dissented , and stated that the <br /> opinion is a loose cannon unattached to the Constitution , which <br /> will have an adverse impact on the land-use regulatory process . <br /> This report is an examination of the opinion from the viewpoint <br /> of the community planner . <br /> HISTORY OF THE CASE <br /> In 1957 the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of <br /> Glendale , California purchased land on which the Church operated <br /> a campground as a retreat center and recreational area for <br /> handicapped children . The land is located in a canyon on the <br /> • banks of the Middle Fork of Mill Creek in the Angeles National <br /> Forest in Los Angeles County . <br /> In 1977 a forest fire denuded 3 , 860 acres of mountain woodlands <br /> in the watershed area drained by the creek . <br /> In 1978 a heavy rainfall caused a flood , killing 10 people and <br /> destroying the church ' s campgrounds and buildings . <br /> In 1979 , the County of Los Angeles adopted an interim ordinance <br /> prohibiting the construction or reconstruction of any - building or <br /> structure in an interim flood protection area which included the <br /> land on which the church ' s campgrounds and buildings had stood . <br /> In 1979 , a little more than a month after the ordinance was <br /> adopted , the church filed a complaint in the Superior Court of <br /> California claiming , among other things , that the ordinance was <br /> an inverse condemnation of their land , . . . that all use of the <br /> land had been denied them . . . and that they were therefore <br /> entitled to be paid compensation. <br /> Subsequently the Superior Court of California denied the claim, <br /> and the California Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court ' s <br /> decision . The plaintiff then appealed to the United States <br /> Supreme Court . <br /> • On June 9 , 1987 the U . S . Supreme Court announced its opinion <br /> overturning the California Court . <br /> GENE FRANCH ETT & ASSOCIATES <br /> 5713 Chowen Ave.So. Minneapolis.MN 55410 1612)926-6201 <br />