No. 15-214 In the Supreme Court of the United States JOSEPH P. MURR, ET AL., PETITIONERS, v. STATE OF WISCONSIN, ET AL. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE WISCONSIN COURT OF APPEALS BRIEF FOR RESPONDENT STATE OF WISCONSIN BRAD D. SCHIMEL MISHA TSEYTLIN Attorney General Solicitor General Counsel of Record STATE OF WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE DANIEL P. LENNINGTON 17 West Main Street LUKE N. BERG Madison, WI 53703 Deputy Solicitors General [email protected] (608) 267-9323 Attorneys for the State of Wisconsin QUESTION PRESENTED Whether land lots that were created and defined under state law, which merged pursuant to a preex- isting state law merger provision, are a single “parcel” for regulatory takings purposes. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page QUESTION PRESENTED ......................................... i INTRODUCTION .......................................................1 STATEMENT ..............................................................2 A. Land Lots Are Creatures Of State Law ..........2 B. Lot Merger Is A Commonly-Used Tool For Phasing Out Substandard Lots .......................8 C. Factual Background ....................................... 13 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ................................... 23 ARGUMENT ............................................................. 27 I. As This Court Suggested In Lucas, The Relevant Land “Parcel” Should Be Defined By Objectively “Reasonable Expectations,” As “Shaped By The States’ Law Of Property” ......................................................... 27 II. Contiguous, Commonly Owned Land Lots Are One “Parcel” Under The Approach Suggested By Lucas Where—As Here—The Lots Are Merged Under State Law ................ 37 III. Even If This Court Decides That A Multifactor Analysis Is Warranted, The Lots Here Are Still One “Parcel” ................... 43 CONCLUSION .......................................................... 47 iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Appolo Fuels, Inc. v. United States, 381 F.3d 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2004) ........................... 44 Ariz. State Legislature v. Ariz. Indep. Redistricting Comm’n, 135 S.Ct. 2652 (2015) .......................................... 35 Armstrong v. United States, 364 U.S. 40 (1960) ......................................... 25, 27 Bd. of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564 (1972) ....................................... 24, 30 Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U.S. 226 (1897) ............................................. 27 City of Trenton v. New Jersey, 262 U.S. 182 (1923) ............................................... 3 Dist. Intown Props. Ltd. P’ship v. District of Columbia, 198 F.3d 874 (D.C. Cir. 1999) ...................... passim First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Glendale v. Cnty. of Los Angeles, 482 U.S. 304 (1987) ............................................. 27 Forest Props., Inc. v. United States, 177 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 1999) ............... 43, 44, 46 iv Horne v. Dep’t of Agric., 135 S. Ct. 2419 (2015) ......................................... 29 In re Application for Vacation of Part of A.A. Carlson’s Plat, 699 N.W.2d 254 (Wis. Ct. App. 2005) ................ 41 Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass’n v. DeBenedictis, 480 U.S. 470 (1987) ................................. 31, 32, 34 Lingle v. Chevron USA Inc., 544 U.S. 528 (2005) ................................. 27, 28, 29 Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U.S. 419 (1982) ............................................. 29 Lost Tree Village Corp. v. United States, 707 F.3d 1286 (Fed. Cir. 2013) ..................... 44, 46 Lucas v. S.C. Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003 (1992) .................................... passim Masko v. City of Madison, 665 N.W.2d 391 (Wis. Ct. App. 2003) ................ 17 McKeen v. Delancy’s Lessee, 9 U.S. (5 Cranch) 22 (1809) ............................ 3, 33 Murr v. St. Croix Cnty. Bd. of Adjust., 796 N.W. 2d 837 (Wis. Ct. App. 2011) ........ passim Or. ex rel. State Land Bd. v. Corvallis Sand & Gravel Co., 429 U.S. 363 (1977) ....................................... 33, 34 v Pa. Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393 (1922) ............................27, 28, 31, 32 Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606 (2001) ...................................... passim Penn Cent. Transp. Co. v. City of New York, 438 U.S. 104 (1978) ...................................... passim Penn Cent. Transp. Co. v. New York City, 42 N.Y.2d 324 (1977) .......................................... 40 Phillips v. Wash. Legal Found., 524 U.S. 156 (1998) ............................................. 30 Preseault v. I.C.C., 494 U.S. 1 (1990) ................................................. 30 Ruckelshaus v. Monsanto Co., 467 U.S. 986 (1984) ............................................. 30 Sierra Club N. Star. Chapter v. Pena, 1 F. Supp. 2d 971 (D. Minn. 1998) ..................... 14 Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Fla. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot., 560 U.S. 702 (2010) ................................... 2, 24, 30 Town of Sun Prairie v. Storms, 327 N.W.2d 642 (Wis. 1983) ................................. 7 Wis. Pub. Serv. Corp. v. Arby Const., Inc., 818 N.W.2d 863 (Wis. 2012) ............................... 17 vi Wisconsin’s Envt’l Decade, Inc. v. Dep’t of Nat. Res., 271 N.W.2d 69 (Wis. 1978) ................................. 14 Zealy v. City of Waukesha, 548 N.W.2d 528 (Wis. 1996) ................... 21, 22, 38 Constitutional Provisions U.S. Const. amend. V ............................................... 27 U.S. Const. amend. XIV ........................................... 27 Wis. Const. art I, § 13 .............................................. 20 Statutes 16 U.S.C. § 1271 ....................................................... 14 16 U.S.C. § 1283 ....................................................... 15 Cal. Gov. Code § 66451.11 ....................................... 11 Cal. Gov. Code § 66451.13 ....................................... 12 Cal. Gov. Code § 66451.22 ....................................... 13 Colo. Rev. Stat. § 30-28-139 ..................................... 12 Minn. Stat. § 394.36 ........................................... 12, 13 Minn. Stat. § 462.357 ............................................... 13 N.H. Rev. Stat. § 674:39-a ....................................... 12 N.H. Rev. Stat. § 674:39-aa ..................................... 12 vii N.M. Stat. § 47-6-9.1 ................................................ 12 R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-24-38 ........................................ 12 St. Croix County, Wis., Code of Ordinances § 17.36 (2005) ...................................................... 16 Vt. Stat. tit. 24, § 4412 ............................................. 12 Wis. Laws of 1849, ch. 41 ........................................... 7 Wis. Laws of 1955, ch. 570 ....................................... 10 Wis. Laws of 1961, ch. 214 ....................................... 10 Wis. Stat. § 236.02 ................................................. 7, 8 Wis. Stat. § 236.03 ..................................................... 7 Wis. Stat. § 236.10 ..................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 236.13 ..................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 236.20 ..................................................... 7 Wis. Stat. § 236.25 ..................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 236.335 ................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 236.34 ..................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 236.36 ..................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 236.45 ................................................. 7, 8 Wis. Stat. § 30.27 ............................................... 14, 16 viii Wis. Stat. § 32.10 ..................................................... 20 Wis. Stat. § 706.01 ..................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 706.02 ..................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 706.05 ..................................................... 8 Wis. Stat. § 893.52 ................................................... 42 Regulations Wis. Admin. Code § NR 118.03 ................................ 15 Wis. Admin. Code § NR 118.04 ................................ 15 Wis. Admin. Code § NR 118.06 ................................ 15 Wis. Admin. Code § NR 118.08 .......................... 15, 18 Wis. Admin. Reg., Aug. 1986, No. 368..................... 17 Wis. Admin. Reg., Dec. 1975, No. 240 ..................... 17 Wis. Admin. Reg., June 1980, No. 294 .................... 17 Wis. Admin. Reg., Oct. 2004, No. 586 ..................... 17 Treatises American Law of Property (Casner ed. 1952) ........... 6 Arden H. Rathkopf, et al., Rathkopf’s The Law of Zoning and Planning (4th ed. 2016) ............ 10, 11 ix Bruce A. Ackerman, Private Property and the Constitution (1977) ............................................. 35 Julius L. Sackman, et al., Nichols on Eminent Domain (3d ed. 1997) ............................................ 4 Patricia E. Salkin, American Law of Zoning (5th ed. 2016) .......................................................... 9, 11 Patrick J. Rohan, Zoning and Land Use Controls (Eric Damian Kelly ed., 1997) ........................ 9, 11 Richard R. Powell, Powell on Real Property (Michael Allan Wolf ed., 2013) ......................... 5, 9 Rodger A. Cunningham, William B. Stoebuck, & Dale A. Whitman, The Law of Property (Lawyer’s ed. 1984) ........................................... 5, 6 Thompson on Real Property (David A. Thomas ed., 2d ed. 2009) .......................................