835 Hinesburg Road, LLC v. City of South Burlington

Filing Date: 2022
Case Categories:
Principal Laws:
Fifth Amendment—Takings, Fourteenth Amendment—Equal Protection, Fourteenth Amendment—Due Process, Vermont State Constitution
Description: Constitutional challenge to South Burlington land use regulations.
  • 835 Hinesburg Road, LLC v. City of South Burlington
    Docket number(s): 5:22-cv-00058
    Court/Admin Entity: D. Vt.
    Case Documents:
    Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary
    02/24/2022 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Property Owner Challenged Constitutionality, Public Benefit of Development Restrictions in South Burlington. A City of South Burlington property owner filed a lawsuit in federal court in Vermont asserting that the designation of its land as a “Habitat Block” constituted an illegal taking under the U.S. and Vermont Constitutions and violated the plaintiff’s equal protection and due process rights, the Vermont Constitution’s Common Benefit Clause, and Vermont statutes. The plaintiff alleged that the City’s amendments of its Land Development Regulations to prohibit development of and other actions in Habitat Blocks would have negative environmental consequences, including increases in greenhouse gas emissions due to increased distances that employees would have to travel to the center of Chittenden County because housing would not be available closer to their places of employment. The plaintiff contended that the “Habitat Blocks” did not promote the public good but instead decreased it.