Opinion ID: 71236
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the City Effected a Taking of the Parcel

Text: 31 To establish a just compensation claim, a landowner must show that the challenged regulation (1) does not substantially advance legitimate state interests, or (2) denies him economically viable use of his land. Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U.S. 255, 260, 100 S.Ct. 2138, 2141, 65 L.Ed.2d 106 (1980); Reahard v. Lee County, 968 F.2d 1131, 1135 (11th Cir.1992). On the last appeal in this case, we held that the ordinances substantially advanced legitimate government interests. Corn, 997 F.2d at 1373. Thus, to establish his just compensation claim with respect to the Parcel, Corn must show that the ordinances denied him economically viable use of the Parcel. 32 When a landowner temporarily is deprived of all economically viable use of his land, he is entitled to just compensation for the temporary taking of his property. First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Glendale v. Los Angeles County, Cal., 482 U.S. 304, 321, 107 S.Ct. 2378, 2389, 96 L.Ed.2d 250 (1987). Corn divides his claim into several time periods, arguing that there was a temporary taking during the moratorium and until the state court judgment was affirmed and that the temporary taking ultimately matured into a permanent taking. We follow a similar approach, analyzing whether there was a temporary taking separately from Corn's permanent taking claim. 33 Whether a landowner has been deprived of all or substantially all economically viable use of his property, either permanently or temporarily, is an essentially ad hoc inquiry into whether the regulation goes too far. MacDonald, Sommer & Frates v. Yolo County, 477 U.S. 340, 349, 106 S.Ct. 2561, 2566, 91 L.Ed.2d 285 (1986). The factfinder must consider (1) the economic impact of the regulation; (2) its interference with the landowner's reasonable investment-backed expectations; and (3) the character of the governmental action. Id. See also Reahard, 968 F.2d at 1136 (listing factors to be considered in analyzing just compensation claim). The district court correctly engaged in an ad hoc analysis of the relevant factors. The court concluded that Corn suffered no diminution in his reasonable investment-backed expectations and that many economically viable uses of the Parcel were permitted. 34 Except with respect to the moratorium period, the district court's factual findings are not clearly erroneous. Indeed, it is undisputed that, except during the moratorium, Corn could use the Parcel for any use permitted in a B-3 zoning category, including to build the proposed shopping center. We hold, therefore, that there was no taking of the Parcel after the moratorium expired. 35 Corn contends that his case is special and not subject to traditional takings analysis. According to Corn, the economic impact of the ordinances and their effect on his reasonable investment-backed expectations are irrelevant because he has obtained a state court judgment holding that the ordinances could not validly be applied to the Parcel. Corn fails, however, to cite any authority for his suggestion that a government automatically is liable to pay just compensation under the Fifth Amendment whenever a zoning authority subsequently is held to be estopped from enforcing a change in zoning. We know of no such rule. The standard for whether regulation effects a taking is whether the landowner has been denied all or substantially all economically viable use of his land. Reahard, 968 F.2d at 1136. 36 Corn's only argument as to how he has been denied all economically viable use of the Parcel is that he was not legally obligated to use the Parcel for any of the permissible economically viable uses. Because he could not build the mini-warehouse, and was not legally required to build anything else, the argument goes, Corn was left with no economically viable use for the Parcel. Again, Corn cites no authority for his proposition, and we have found none. The standard is not whether the landowner has been denied those uses to which he wants to put his land; it is whether the landowner has been denied all or substantially all economically viable use of his land. See Baytree of Inverrary Realty Partners v. City of Lauderhill, 873 F.2d 1407, 1410 (11th Cir.1989) (holding that neither inability to develop exactly what developer wanted, deprivation of most beneficial use of land, nor severe decrease in value of property amounts to taking). Because Corn was not denied economically viable use of the Parcel after the expiration of the moratorium, his claim that there was a taking of the Parcel after the moratorium expired fails. 37 As to the moratorium period, however, we must remand to the district court for further factual findings. The district court found that the moratorium: (1) served a reasonable purpose; (2) was reasonable in duration, in light of the length of time that the Parcel lay dormant before the moratorium; and (3) did not deprive Corn of all economically viable use of the Parcel. The court then held that the moratorium did not effect a temporary taking of the Parcel. The court did not explain, however, whether its holding was based on the reasonableness of the moratorium, the existence of economically viable uses of the Parcel during the moratorium, or both. Nor did the court make any explicit factual findings as to what, if any, economically viable uses of the Parcel were available to Corn during the moratorium. 38 The district court's factual findings are insufficient for effective appellate review. We are unable to determine from the record whether the district court's conclusion that the Parcel could be put to economically viable use during the moratorium is clearly erroneous. The parties proceed on the assumption that the moratorium prohibited Corn from building anything on the Parcel. However, our review of the ordinances reveals that the Parcel was re-zoned B-3 within a month after the moratorium began, suggesting that the Parcel thereafter may not have been subject to the moratorium. It may be that the district court based its conclusion on a finding that, during the moratorium, Corn could use the Parcel for any use permitted by the B-3 zoning classification, but any such finding was not explicit. Hence, we remand for the court to make findings as to the economically viable uses of the Parcel during the moratorium. 39 In light of our decision to remand, we need not address Corn's contention that the district court erred in considering the reasonableness of the moratorium. According to Corn, there was a temporary taking of the Parcel if he was denied all or substantially all economically viable use of the Parcel during the moratorium, regardless of the moratorium's reasonableness. The City responds that there was no taking because the moratorium lasted just long enough to study the City's commercial zoning scheme. We need not address this significant constitutional question of first impression 4 at this juncture, as it may turn out that the moratorium did not deprive Corn of all economically viable use of the Parcel. 40