Court Opinion

ID: 9430153
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:29:05.781329+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:23.377126
License: Public Domain

*201Justice Brennan,
with whom Justice Marshall joins, concurring.
The Court today discusses two methods for analyzing the constitutional injury that may result from the temporary application of government regulations denying property any economically viable use. The Court concludes that, under either approach, the respondent’s claim is premature because the petitioner Williamson County Regional Planning Commission’s 1981 disapproval of the respondent’s preliminary plat did not constitute a final reviewable decision given the availability of a variance procedure that the respondent did not pursue. Ante, at 185, 199-200.
I join the Court’s opinion without, however, departing from my views set forth in San Diego Gas & Electric Co. v. San Diego, 450 U. S. 621, 636 (1981) (Brennan, J., dissenting). Because “[i]nvalidation unaccompanied by payment of damages would hardly compensate the landowner for any economic loss suffered during the time his property was taken,” I believe that “once a court establishes that there was a regulatory ‘taking,’ the Constitution demands that the government entity pay just compensation for the period commencing on the date the regulation first effected the ‘taking,’ and ending on the date the government entity chooses to rescind or otherwise amend the regulation.” Id., at 653, 655. As the Court demonstrates in this case, however, “the Commission’s denial of approval does not conclusively determine whether respondent will be denied all reasonable beneficial use of its property, and therefore is not a final, reviewable decision.” Ante, at 194. In addition, “Respondent has not shown that [Tennessee’s] inverse condemnation procedure is unavailable or inadequate, and until it has utilized that procedure, its taking claim is premature.” Ante, at 196-197. Accordingly, I join the Court’s opinion reversing the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.