10-1359 Bettendorf v. St. Croix County

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Constitutional Law
Takings; downzoning

Where a property owner made improvements pursuant to a conditional zoning provision, and then successfully sued to have the condition struck down, subsequent downzoning of the property was not a taking.

“The Takings Clause presupposes government interference with one’s property rights in pursuit of a public purpose. Lingle v. Chevron, 544 U.S. 528, 543 (2005). As Judge Crabb noted in her opinion, Bettendorf freely agreed to the conditional zoning provision. Any improvements Bettendorf made to his property were completed with full knowledge that the commercial designation would ultimately be lost. Bettendorf knew the conditional language of the ordinance restricted his ability to recoup the value of his commercial investments when he was ready to sell and therefore petitioned the County to make the re-zoning permanent. When the County refused, it was Bettendorf who initiated litigation in order for the circuit court to construe the limits of the ordinance. While he hoped the litigation would result in a decision giving him greater freedom than the ordinance afforded him, the result instead limited the freedom he had previously enjoyed. That was a risk he assumed in asking the court to interpret the scope and validity of the ordinance, not a government interference with his investment opportunities.”

“In concluding our discussion of the takings claim, we note that while Bettendorf did suffer as a result of losing the commercial designation to which he had grown accustomed, he retains full use of his property for agricultural and residential purposes. The County’s action does not render the property ‘practically useless,’ as the takings jurisprudence requires. Rather, it restores the land to its intended use at the time Bettendorf acquired it. Finding no government intrusion and no deprivation of all or substantially all practical use of Bettendorf’s property, we cannot find a compensable taking.”

Affirmed.

10-1359 Bettendorf v. St. Croix County

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Bauer, J.

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