Mark Leavitt Moderates Panel: “Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District”

Mark Leavitt, former Chair of the American Bar Association’s Eminent Domain Committee, moderated a panel of distinguished land planners in front of the Eminent Domain Committee for the State Bar of Florida on September 27, 2013 in Tampa, Florida. The subject was the real world Impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District. The Koontz opinion concluded that government cannot withhold permitting when an owner refuses to pay fees that are not related to the owner’s proposed use of his property. The Court found these fees to be a violation of the United States Constitution and found the requirement to pay fees that do not relate to the impacts caused by the development of property to be a form of extortion.

The agenda of this presentation is as follows:

Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District, 133 S. Ct. 2586 (2013) – An Examination from Two Perspectives

a. Case Discussion and its place within the case law (Alan DeSerio, Pacific Legal Foundation)

b. “Koontz and its Impact on Planning Professionals,” a Panel Discussion

Moderator: Mark Leavitt, Dean Mead, Orlando

Presenters:

• Steve Semonich, Rahenkamp Design Group, Inc., Tampa
• Stuart Buchanan, Brevard County Government, Viera
• Clay Ervin, Lassiter Transportation Group, Daytona Beach
• Bob Sprinkle, Sprinkle Consulting Group, Lutz