Opinion ID: 1936975
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Uncompensated Taking.

Text: The owners claim that by enacting the RHCSA and the rent control laws, and by effecting delays through the use of illegal ordinances, the District has taken their property for public use without just compensation, in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Judge Doyle's order granting the District summary judgment did not explicitly address this issue. The panel found dismissal of the taking claim on the pleadings to be premature, because resolution of the issue requires an essentially ad hoc factual inquiry. 530 A.2d at 1185, citing Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U.S. 419, 426, 102 S.Ct. 3164, 3171, 73 L.Ed.2d 868 (1983). Although our emphasis differs from the panel's, we agree that a remand is required. To prove a taking under the Fifth Amendment, it is not necessary to demonstrate that the property was taken in the narrow sense of the word, nor need the government have directly appropriated the title, possession, or use of the property. Richmond Elks Hall Assn. v. Richmond Redevelopment Agency, 561 F.2d 1327, 1330 (9th Cir.1977). A land use regulation effects a taking if it denies an owner any economically viable use of his land. Agins v. Tiburon, 447 U.S. 255, 260, 100 S.Ct. 2138, 2141, 65 L.Ed.2d 106 (1980); Nollan v. California Coastal Com'n, 483 U.S. 825, 833-34, 107 S.Ct. 3141, 3146, 97 L.Ed.2d 677 (1987). The just compensation clause does not, however, require that a landowner be permitted to make the most profitable use of his property. Quite the contrary, diminution in property value, standing alone, does not establish a taking, especially where the property is capable of earning a reasonable return within the governmental restrictions. Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104, 129, 131, 98 S.Ct. 2646, 2661, 2662, 57 L.Ed.2d 631 (1978); see Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass'n v. DeBenedictis, 480 U.S. 470, 495-96, 107 S.Ct. 1232, 1247, 94 L.Ed. 2d 472 (1987); 900 G Street Assoc. v. Dept. of Housing, 430 A.2d 1387, 1390-91 (D.C. 1981). These principles have been applied to situations similar to the one that confronts us here. In Griffin Development Co. v. City of Oxnard, supra , the Supreme Court of California upheld, against a Fifth Amendment challenge, a regulation which effectively prohibited condominium conversion. The court noted that the owner was free to continue to rent its apartments, unaffected by the ordinance; the regulations apply only to its plans to convert the apartments to condominiums. 39 Cal.3d at 259, 217 Cal.Rptr. at 1, 703 P.2d at 344-45. The court observed that most land use regulations have the effect of reducing the value of regulated properties, but concluded that even a significant diminution in value is insufficient to establish a prohibited taking. Id. at 2, 217 Cal.Rptr. at 260, 703 P.2d at 345. See also Troy Ltd. v. Renna, 727 F.2d 287, 300-02 (3d Cir.1984) (upholding a forty-year statutory tenancy for senior citizens following condominium conversion against contention that it constituted an uncompensated taking in violation of Fifth Amendment), and the opinion of Silberman, J., concurring in the denial of rehearing in Silverman, supra, 271 U.S. App.D.C. at 180, 851 F.2d at 435. In the present case, as in Griffin, supra, the owners are free to continue to use the Savoy as rental property. They complain in conclusory fashion that the District's rent control laws promote expropriation, but the Supreme Court declined, only last term, to reconsider Block v. Hirsh, 256 U.S. 135, 41 S.Ct. 458, 65 L.Ed. 865 (1921) and its progeny, upholding the constitutionality of rent control. Pennell, supra, 485 U.S. at ___, 108 S.Ct. at 857-58 n. 6. Moreover, the District permits a landlord to file a hardship petition and obtain an upward adjustment of the rent if his rate of return has been less than 12% per year, § 45-2522, a provision which appears to make the law anything but confiscatory. Given these circumstances, as well as the presumption of constitutionality, the difficulties with the owners' contention that the District has taken their property without compensation may not be easy to surmount. We conclude, however, that the procedural posture of the litigation precludes its final disposition on this appeal. The case came before Judge Doyle on the District's motion for summary judgment. The District's statement, pursuant to Super.Ct. Civ.R. 12-I(k), of material facts as to which there was alleged to be no genuine issue, focused entirely on the owners' statutory claims, and did not address the factual context of the issue of uncompensated taking. The owners' statement of what they claimed to be genuine disputed issues of material fact, filed in response to the motion and in compliance with the same Rule, also addressed the statutory claims alone. Accordingly, the record as to uncompensated taking is deficient, which is problematical in a situation in which, as the panel noted, an ad hoc case by case inquiry is called for. The District contends, and we agree, that the owners bear the burden of proof to establish an unconstitutional taking. The District goes on to argue that the owners, having access to the relevant evidence, presented nothing to the trial court which would demonstrate the unavailability of alternative economic uses for the property. The owners having failed to establish that material facts were at issue, says the District, summary judgment followed as a matter of course. The problem with the District's argument, however, is that although the owners bear the ultimate burden with respect to the substantive issue, the party seeking summary judgment has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Super.Ct.Civ.R. 56(c). In the present posture of the case, with the District's Rule 12-I(k) statement devoted to other matters, we apprehend that the owners were not fully and fairly put on notice that they were required to submit affidavits or other materials from which the court might find that a genuine issue of material fact exists. For all practical purposes, they were given no factual material to which to respond. Accordingly, in order to ensure that the owners do not forfeit a constitutional claim as a result of a procedural focus by both sides on other matters, we remand the case to the Superior Court for further proceedings with respect to the uncompensated taking claim. In light of the possibility that this claim lacks substance, we suggest, but do not require, that in lieu of proceeding to trial, the parties be permitted to supplement their submissions in support of and in opposition to the motion for summary judgment and to provide affidavits or other materials relevant to the question whether there was an unconstitutional taking. Further consideration may be given to that motion after this has been accomplished.