Loveladies Harbor, Inc. v. United States

Loveladies Harbor, Inc. (Loveladies) (plaintiff), a land developer, acquired 250 acres of land in New Jersey in 1958, 199 acres of which were developed before 1972, when the Clean Water Act (CWA) was enacted. Around 1977, Loveladies applied to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to develop the remaining 51 acres. After negotiations, the NJDEP gave Loveladies permission to develop 12.5 acres, and Loveladies conveyed 38.5 acres to the state. When Loveladies applied for a federal permit, the NJDEP recommended that the application be denied because the development project violated state requirements. The United States Army Corps of Engineers denied the application. Loveladies brought a claim against the United States (defendant) under the Takings Clause of the United States Constitution. The judge held that a taking had occurred. One key issue was whether Loveladies was deprived of all economically viable uses of its land. The judge ruled that the relevant unit of land was only the 12.5 acres described in the application, not the entire 250 acres. The United States appealed. Before the appeal was decided, the United States Supreme Court held that a regulatory taking occurred if regulation had deprived a landowner of all economically viable uses of its property, if the landowner had investment-backed expectations, and if the bundle of rights conveyed to the landowner had included the property interest at issue. The third criterion could not be satisfied if common-law nuisance law reserved the disputed property interest to the state. The United States argued that Loveladies had not been deprived of all economically viable use of its land because the entire 250-acre parcel was the relevant unit. Loveladies argued for a bright-line rule that only the 12.5-acre parcel should be considered. The United States also argued that the regulation in question was within the state’s power under common-law nuisance doctrine.