"Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Property Owner in Land Development Fee Dispute"

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that government fees, including building permit fees, must be based on actual adverse impacts, and cannot exceed the damage the public would face from development. The case involved a California homeowner who was charged over $23,000 for a "traffic impact mitigation" fee to obtain a building permit. The Court's decision puts a stop to what was deemed as an attempt to skirt the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against taking private property without just compensation. The case will return to the lower court to determine whether the fee is subject to the unconstitutional conditions doctrine and whether it was proportional to the traffic impact caused by the homeowner's construction.