Opinion ID: 2360987
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Federal and State Takings

Text: [¶ 13] King contends that the court erred in its post-trial decision to deny her state takings claims, Me. Const. art. I, § 21, as to Lot 28 and the Main Street Lot, but does not address whether the damage to those properties is significant enough to warrant compensation. See Seven Islands Land Co. v. Maine Land Use Regulation Comm'n, 450 A.2d 475, 482 (Me.1982) (serious impairment of an individual's property interest, use, or enjoyment is prerequisite for a compensable taking); Foss v. Maine Turnpike Auth., 309 A.2d 339, 344 (Me.1973) (same). Here, the evidence did not compel a contrary holding and the court's findings therefore were not erroneous. Blackmer, 437 A.2d at 862. [¶ 14] King also asserts that the court erred by denying her federal takings claims as to all three of the lots. [11] The court was correct to do so, however, because her federal takings claims are not ripe. Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank, 473 U.S. 172, 196, 105 S.Ct. 3108, 3121-22, 87 L.Ed.2d 126 (1985) (property owners must exhaust state remedies as precondition to raising a federal takings claim); Drake v. Town of Sanford, 643 A.2d 367, 369 (Me.1994) (until plaintiff has resorted to state procedure and the amount of compensation has been determined, a claim under the federal Just Compensation Clause is premature); see also Culebras Enter. Corp. v. Rivera Rios, 813 F.2d 506, 515-16 (1st Cir.1987) (state non-statutory inverse condemnation remedy must be pursued before federal constitutional claim can be maintained).