Opinion ID: 2635704
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Physical invasion of property

Text: NTOA also argues that the requirement to post a no smoking sign is a physical invasion of property that constitutes a taking of that property based on the United States Supreme Court case Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U.S. 419, 102 S.Ct. 3164, 73 L.Ed.2d 868 (1982). In Loretto, the Supreme Court held that a regulation that required a landlord to permit a cable company to install cable television facilities on the property constituted a physical invasion requiring compensation. 458 U.S. at 438, 102 S.Ct. 3164. The taking was the result of the installation of small cable boxes and wiring installed on the roof of the landlord's building. Id. The statute in question essentially gave the cable company full control over the installation and maintenance of the cable box. NTOA argues that the requirement of posting a sign is similar to the requirement in Loretto of allowing the installation of cable boxes and, therefore, constitutes a taking. We do not agree. The NCIAA does not give full control over the installation and maintenance of no smoking signs to a third party, which is what occurred in Loretto. The Loretto court recognized this distinction, stating that its holding in no way alters the analysis governing the State's power to require landlords to comply with building codes and provide utility connections, mailboxes, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and the like in the common area of a building. So long as these regulations do not require the landlord to suffer the physical occupation of a portion of his building by a third party, they will be analyzed under the multifactor inquiry generally applicable to nonpossessory governmental activity. Id. at 440, 102 S.Ct. 3164. The determination of whether the landlord maintained control over the property, or if that control was given to a third party, was an important aspect of determining if there was a per se taking. Id. at 440 n. 19, 102 S.Ct. 3164. The Court stated that if the statute at issue had only required a landlord to allow installation, without more, then a different question would be presented because the landlord would retain control over placement and other effects of the installation. Id. As the NCIAA does not give control over the installation or any portion of a person's property to a third party, it is distinguishable from Loretto, as that opinion itself recognized. Thus, NTOA's per se taking argument must fail. [15] We therefore conclude that the NCIAA does not constitute a governmental taking of private property. Business owners still maintain possession and control over their property. The fact that they are subject to certain regulations does not result in the government taking complete control over their airspace or building property. Thus, NTOA's taking argument is without merit and cannot serve as a basis for invalidating the NCIAA.