Retail Property Values and Land Use Regulation: Judicial Approaches to Measuring Diminution of Value and Legal Strategies to Redress Loss of Property Value

Landlords and tenants who want to understand judicial methods for measuring diminution of property value resulting from land use regulation must first understand the U.S. Supreme Court's takings jurisprudence. Of course, federal takings standards only set the “floor” of constitutional protection. State constitutions may set a higher level of constitutional protection. Although state courts may find a taking in situations where a federal court would not, their approaches to valuation generally mirror the various approaches taken by the federal courts. This two-part article will discuss several Supreme Court takings tests and offer some legal strategies for dealing with them.