Those who follow this blog will be familiar with our petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hillcrest Property, LLP v. Pasco County, No. 14-864. You'll also be familiar with the County's brief in opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court taking this case up on certiorari, and with the overwhelming amici support we received from the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Realtors, the National Federation of Independent Small Businesses, the International Council of Shopping Centers, the National Multifamily Housing Council, and the Florida Home Builders.
And you'll probably recall that this case raises due process, exactions, and unconstitutional conditions issues that are similar to those the U.S. Supreme Court recently dealt with in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, 133 S. Ct. 2586, 2596 (2013). The Eleventh Circuit, though, ruled that any issues dealing with the facial constitutionality of the County's ordinances had to be raised within four years of their adoption. This case asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in, and the reply brief was recently filed.
As is my tradition when my firm or I am on a case or a brief, I leave commentary to others. For an interesting writeup, see Robert Thomas's post on the issue, where he concludes: "But regardless of the claim made or the remedy sought, if the challenge is in federal court, the plaintiff must show Article III standing, and must demonstrate some injury to itself as a result of the ordinance that is different from that of the general public. And we're not sure how that happened in Hillcrest until Hillcrest actually presented development proposal which triggered application of the Right of Way Preservation Ordinance."
Keep an eye on this one. It was on the conference list for Friday, April 17, so we could have an answer as soon as today on whether the Supreme Court will take it up.
