Yesterday, our ABA and Owners’ Counsel of America colleague Dwight Merriam gave the keynote address at the 7th International Conference of the Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights, in Portland, Oregon. Dwight’s presentation, “Getting Past “Yes or No” – Linking Police Power Decision-making with Just Compensation,” centered on the idea that many of the frustrations in land use and environmental law might be avoided by the establishment of a compensation fund which would be drawn upon to offset the negative externalities of development proposals that otherwise might draw fire. So instead of objecting, landowners who suffer losses because of a project that will benefit the public — a nearby wind farm, for example — could obtain compensation.
Here’s a summary of his presentation:
Land-use and environmental decision-making under the police power is usually a zero-sum game. When neighbors complain about the negative externalities of a
