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Keywords

Unconstitutional Conditions, Nollan, Dolan, Koontz, Washington courts, Critical Area Buffers, Environmental Law

Abstract

Washington’s cities and counties are increasingly demanding that owners of residential shoreline properties dedicate large, predetermined critical area buffers as a mandatory condition of any new development. Such demands, when imposed without regard to the specifics of the land use proposal, would appear to violate the essential nexus and rough proportionality tests established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 825 (1987), and Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994). Early decisions from Washington courts faithfully applied these tests, invalidating open space and buffer dedications. But in a series of decisions beginning with Kitsap Alliance of Prop. Owners v. Cent. Puget Sound Growth Mgmt. Hearings Bd. (KAPO), 160 Wash. App. 250, 273, 255 P.3d 696 (2011), the courts have proven reluctant to hold buffer requirements to the heightened scrutiny demanded by Nollan and Dolan. This Article reviews the state of the law regarding the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions both before and after the KAPO decision with particular regard to the source of the constitutional doctrine and the appropriate degree of scrutiny. The Article concludes that fidelity to the constitution requires that critical area buffers, imposed as a mandatory condition on new development permits, must be subject to heightened scrutiny.

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