Property Owners Sue Miami for Unlawfully Taking Property via Permit Applications

The Institute for Justice is suing the city of Miami over what it calls an unconstitutional taking of homeowner property, according to a press release from the Institute.

The suit stems from an incident in which the city requested 500 square feet of a homeowner’s front yard to expand public right-of-way after the homeowner applied for an unrelated permit to build an addition on his property. 

“The city adopted a policy of demanding this expanded right-of-way from all land use permit applicants, whenever the public right-of-way over their parcel is less than the base building line. Someone might need a permit for bathroom remodeling, for a kitchen expansion, or an accessory dwelling unit. In any case, applicants must give up their land.”

The city is collecting these parcels to be able to eventually widen roads. IJ claims it has identified 66 streets with over 1,000 homes that are potentially subject to this practice. IJ claims that although cities can impose land use permitting conditions related to public safety, a city cannot legally “require that the property owner do work unrelated to safety, like giving up half their front yard.”