Legal commentary

Excerpt

On the last day of the most recent term, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its long-awaited decision in the case of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council (404 S.E. 2d 895). The Court held that the restrictions on Lucas' land were a regulatory taking that required compensation.

In 1984 David Lucas bought two vacant ocean-front lots in a residential subdivision. In 1988 the South Carolina legislature passed the Beachfront Management Act to limit construction within the beach/dune system in critical areas. The plaintiff's lots were in the critical area where the act prohibited construction of any permanent structure, except a small deck or walkway on the two lots.

Lucas sued the South Carolina Coastal Council. He asserted that the use restrictions on the lots denied him “economically viable use” of his land and thus was a regulatory taking of private property requiring just compensation. The lower court found a regulatory taking and awarded Lucas $1.2 million as just compensation.

The South Carolina Coastal Council appealed to the South Carolina Supreme Court, which determined, “the issue is whether governmental regulation of the use of property, in order to …