Is the government like a mugger: “Your money or your life”? The Florida Supreme Court said yes. So did the U.S. Supreme Court’s four liberals. But Justice Samuel Alito, joined by his conservative brethren, begged to differ today as the High Court reversed the court below inKoontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, a ringing victory for property rights.
In 1994 (note when this case began), Coy Koontz Sr. sought a permit from the District to develop his 15-acre tract. He offered to mitigate several environmental effects and to foreclose any future development on 11 acres. But that wasn’t enough for the District. Among other things, they demanded that he (1) reduce the size of his development to one acre and deed to the District a conservation easement on the remainder of his property, or (2) hire contractors to make improvements on District-owned wetlands several miles away.
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