646
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
regulations] to the particular land in question." Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U. S. 172, 191 (1985). Absent such a final decision, a court cannot "kno[w] the nature and extent of permitted development" under the regulations, and therefore cannot say "how far the regulation[s] g[o]," as regulatory takings law requires. MacDonald, Sommer & Frates v. Yolo County, 477 U. S. 340, 348, 351 (1986). Therefore, even when a landowner seeks and is denied permission to develop property, if the denial does not demonstrate the effective impact of the regulations on the land, the denial does not represent the "final decision" requisite to generate a ripe dispute. Williamson County, 473 U. S., at 190.
MacDonald illustrates how a highly ambitious application may not ripen a takings claim. The landowner in that case proposed a 159-home subdivision. 477 U. S., at 342. When that large proposal was denied, the owner complained that the State had appropriated "all beneficial use of its property." Id., at 352, n. 8; see also id., at 344. This Court concluded, however, that the landowner's claim was not ripe, for the denial of the massive development left "open the possibility that some development [would] be permitted." Id., at 352. "Rejection of exceedingly grandiose development plans," the Court observed, "does not logically imply that less ambitious plans will receive similarly unfavorable reviews." Id., at 353, n. 9.
As presented to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Anthony Palazzolo's case was a close analogue to MacDonald. Palazzolo's land has two components. Approximately 18 acres are wetlands that sustain a rich but delicate ecosystem. See 746 A. 2d 707, 710, and n. 1 (R. I. 2000). Additional acres are less environmentally sensitive "uplands." (The number of upland acres remains in doubt, see ibid., because Palazzolo has never submitted "an accurate or detailed survey" of his property, see Tr. 190 (June 18-19, 1997).) Rhode Island's administrative agency with ultimate permitting au-
Page: Index Previous 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007