720
Opinion of the Court
been denied all reasonable beneficial use of the property had any of the eight objections been met through the grant of a variance. . . . Accordingly, until the Commission determines that no variances will be granted, it is impossible for the jury to find, on this record, whether respondent 'will be unable to derive economic benefit' from the land").
Williamson is not a direct holding, however, and we must look for further guidance. We turn next to considerations of process and function.
3
In actions at law predominantly factual issues are in most cases allocated to the jury. See Baltimore & Carolina Line, Inc. v. Redman, 295 U. S. 654, 657 (1935). The allocation rests on a firm historical foundation, see, e. g., 1 E. Coke, Institutes 155b (1628) ("ad quaestionem facti non respondent judices; ad quaestionem juris non respondent jura-tores"), and serves "to preserve the right to a jury's resolution of the ultimate dispute," Markman, supra, at 377.
Almost from the inception of our regulatory takings doctrine, we have held that whether a regulation of property goes so far that "there must be an exercise of eminent domain and compensation to sustain the act . . . depends upon the particular facts." Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U. S. 393, 413 (1922); accord, Keystone Bituminous Coal, supra, at 473-474. Consistent with this understanding, we have described determinations of liability in regulatory takings cases as " 'essentially ad hoc, factual inquiries,' " Lucas, supra, at 1015 (quoting Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U. S. 104, 124 (1978)), requiring "complex factual assessments of the purposes and economic effects of government actions," Yee, 503 U. S., at 523.
In accordance with these pronouncements, we hold that the issue whether a landowner has been deprived of all economically viable use of his property is a predominantly factual question. As our implied acknowledgment of the procedure in Williamson, supra, suggests, in actions at law
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