Supreme Court Curbs Power of Local Governments to Impose Permitting Fees

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on April 12 that a California county violated a landowner’s rights when it demanded upwards of $23,000 in development impact fees. The ruling curbs the power of governments to use the permitting process to force property owners to pay large development fees and is one in a series of decisions in recent years by the Court in favor of private property rights. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the Court’s opinion in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, finding that the unconstitutional conditions doctrine precludes the fees. The doctrine forbids unrelated fees from being attached to permission to move forward with construction on private land....