Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Abstract

We've heard today that land use planning has grown substantially since its relatively modest inceptions just after the turn of the century. The subject has gotten more complicated as the requirements have become more complicated. Where is it going to end? Well, we don't know where it will end but we know this: the Supreme Court visits the takings issue every year or two or three. It writes some learned opinion and then lets state and lower federal courts fill in the gaps. Sometimes these courts do not go along. The Supreme Court cannot lead by pulling everybody along. It's not pulling the chain; it is pushing the chain hoping against hope that the chain will not curl up. There is enormous slippage in the system so we really can't figure out what a case means until a second generation of cases decides what it meant. One of the reasons for Dolan was the hostile response in the lower courts to Nollan. Everywhere you looked the state satisfied the essential nexus test. The lower courts worked a pretty thorough nullification of Nollan, which was dutifully confined to its particular facts. We don't know whether the same fate awaits Dolan. But the legal uncertainty creates all sorts of opportunities for speculation not only for law professors but also everyone who works in an area that is at the same time dynamic, confusing, and frustrating. Only time will tell what happens next.

First Page

479

Volume

15

Publication Date

1995

Download

Share

COinS