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Property Law Keyed to Kurtz
Nollan v. California Coastal Commission
Citation:
483 U.S. 825 (1987)
ProfessorTodd Berman
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
The Nollans owned a beachfront lot in Ventura County, California, with a small 504-square-foot bungalow. They sought to demolish this structure and replace it with a three-bedroom house. Under California law, they were required to obtain a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission. The Commission granted the permit on the condition that the Nollans allow a public easement across their property along the shoreline. The Commission justified this condition by finding that the new house would block the public’s view of the beach, create a “psychological barrier” to accessing the beach, and increase private use of the shorefront. The Commission argued these effects would cumulatively burden the public’s ability to traverse to and along the shorefront, and therefore the easement was necessary to offset this burden. The Nollans challenged this condition as an unconstitutional taking without compensation.
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