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The right time for a takings claim: Eleventh Circuit on ripeness and property rights

10/17/24

By: Dana K. Maine

In a published opinion, on October 16, 2024, the Eleventh Circuit threaded the needle on ripeness for a takings claim in Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida, — 4^th —, 2024 LW 4500961. While the concept of ripeness is nothing new in federal standing jurisprudence, the concept has been difficult for courts to apply in the land use context. In Lozman, the Eleventh Circuit clarified that when a zoning ordinance does not precisely prescribe the use of the property, a property owner must apply to the local government for some type of permission to use the property and be denied before bringing a Fifth Amendment Takings Clause claim. 

In reaching its fact-specific opinion, the Eleventh Circuit cited to the fact that the city’s zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan were not targeted to Lozman’s property, distinguishing South Grande View Development Company v. City of Alabaster, 1 F.4^th 1299 (11^th Cir. 2021). “The permitted uses and exceptions in Ordinance 4147 amply support the necessity of a final decision from Riviera Beach before a court determines whether Lozman was denied “’all economically beneficial or productive use of [his] land.’” 2024 LW 4500961 *5 (quoting Lucas v. S.C. Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003, 1015 (1992)). 

For more information, please contact Dana K. Maine at dana.maine@fmglaw.com or your local FMG attorney.