Opinion ID: 853972
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Legitimate state interest

Text: Even if there is no per se taking, the Fifth Amendment is violated when a land-use regulation does not substantially advance legitimate state interests[.] Id. at 1016, 112 S.Ct. 2886 (quoting Agins, 447 U.S. at 260, 100 S.Ct. 2138). Prior Supreme Court cases have not elaborated on the standards for determining what constitutes a `legitimate state interest,' but have upheld a broad range of governmental purposes and regulations, including scenic zoning, landmark preservation, and residential zoning. Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n, 483 U.S. 825, 834-35, 107 S.Ct. 3141, 97 L.Ed.2d 677 (1987). The purpose of the registration requirement, according to the BZA, was to establish an administrative process for making a one-time determination of pre-existing status that protects both the owner and the zoning authority from later lengthy disputes and extensive proof problems related to the validity of a nonconforming use. The landowners make a qualified concession in this regard: The Leiszs concede that the city may require a grandfather registration form to be filled out by lawful, pre-existing, non-conforming use and that recordkeeping is useful for the BZA, and protects against problems of proof. Thus, the Leiszs do not attack the registration requirement itself, but rather challenge only its forfeiture penalty. In upholding a provision similar to Bloomington's, the Court of Civil Appeals of Texas noted that [t]he purpose of this registration ordinance is to provide [the City] with sufficient knowledge of the nature and extent of nonconforming uses claimed within the City so that the City can consider these nonconforming uses in planning and can monitor their abandonment. Without a registration scheme it would be impossible for [the City] to begin to implement the plan for the fair and reasonable return of the property to the character of the surrounding neighborhood. Board of Adjustment of San Antonio v. Nelson, 577 S.W.2d 783, 785 (Tex.Civ.App.1979), aff'd. on other grounds, 584 S.W.2d 701 (Tex. 1979). In discussing a registration requirement in Maryland, the court observed its purpose clearly is to bring about conformance, through the zoning process, of nonconforming uses as speedily as possible. To accomplish this, the County Commissioners needed to know where the applicable nonconforming uses were located; thus, the required certification of the nonconforming uses within a specified time. In addition, the County Commissioners sought to prevent unlawful expansion of such uses; hence the requirement that information concerning the exact nature and extent of the nonconforming use was required to be furnished. Moreover, the County Commissioners provided a sanction for a landowner's failure to comply with the certification requirementthe discontinuance of the nonconforming use. County Comm'rs of Carroll County v. Uhler, 78 Md.App. 140, 552 A.2d 942, 946 (Md. Ct. Spec.App.1989) (ordinance required only the registration of used car lots, service garages or junk yards). The very real problem associated with proving the existence of a nonconforming use several years in the past is highlighted by this case. The Leiszs offered affidavits and copies of old leases listing the names of four or five individuals living in the rentals when the ordinance was enacted. However, the BZA found this insufficient to prove uninterrupted occupancy by more than three adults since 1985. [4] Leisz, 686 N.E.2d at 939. Moreover, one of the purposes of any city's zoning regulations is to promote the orderly, responsible, and beneficial development and growth of its city. See, e.g., BMC § 20.01.02.02(a). This would be very difficultif not impossiblewithout some mechanism to monitor nonconforming uses. Although they concede the value of requiring registration of nonconforming uses, the Leiszs seem to suggest that there should be no penalty for noncompliance. The forfeiture provision, however, is a necessary part of the registration requirement. By its very nature, registration requires that a deadline be set. In this case, the June 8, 1985 ordinance required registration of nonconforming uses by October 1, 1985. Allowing nonconforming uses to continue indefinitely after the expiration of the registration deadline would make the entire registration requirement an exercise in futility. In sum, we conclude that the registration requirement, including the forfeiture sanction, substantially advances a legitimate state interest.