Sparks v. Douglas County

Herschel and Elizabeth Sparks (plaintiffs) applied for approval of four plats, each of which included four residential lots, near a road called Empire Way in Douglas County, Washington (the county) (defendant). The county had previously decided that Empire Way needed repair and developed a six-year development plan. However, the county failed to secure funding for the project. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners (the board) conditioned the approval of the Sparkses’ application on the dedication of rights of way for road improvements. The improvements were necessary to accommodate increased traffic on adjacent roads that, at the time, did not meet the county’s safety standards. The Sparkses sought review in the Douglas County Superior Court, alleging that the required right-of-way dedications were unconstitutional takings of their property without just compensation. The court upheld the board’s decision, finding substantial evidence that the proposed development necessitated road upgrades. The Court of Appeals reversed, stating that a dedication was only permissible if it reasonably prevented or compensated for, in specific and proportional fashion, adverse public impacts of the proposed development. The court concluded that the Sparkses’ properties would not create an adverse impact that required upgrading the roads. On review by the Washington Supreme Court, the Sparkses argued that the substandard road existed prior to the application for the plats and that there was an absence of rough proportionality between the demanded dedication and the proposed development.