Kavanau v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board, 16 Cal. 4th 761 (1997)

Citation: Kavanau v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board, 16 Cal. 4th 761 (1997)
Parent Document: Kavanau v. Santa Monica Rent Control Board, 16 Cal. 4th 761 (1997)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 1997-08-26
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/5607899/kavanau-v-santa-monica-rent-con... ↗

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In applying its takings jurisprudence to Penn Central’s property the court refused to consider the interest in airspace in isolation. It explained, “this Court focuses rather both on the character of the action and on the nature and extent of the interference with rights in the parcel as a whole—here, the city tax block designated as the ‘landmark site.’ ” (Penn Central, supra, 438 U.S. at pp. 130-131 [98 S.Ct. at p. 2662].) After rejecting arguments that application of the landmark law to the property had diminished the value of the site and burdened Penn Central more than other property owners subject to it, noting that in these respects, the law was similar to a zoning ordinance, the court turned to the severity of the impact of the landmark law on the parcel as a whole. In concluding that the impact was not such as to constitute a taking the court observed that the law did not interfere in any way with the existing use of the property, thus Penn Central’s “primary expectation” about use of the parcel was unaffected. (Id. at p. 136 [98 S.Ct. at p. 2665].) It also noted that there had been no determination that all use of the airspace *799was prohibited since there had been no application for scaled-down development. Thus in this case there had been no taking because “[t]he restrictions imposed are substantially related to the promotion of the general welfare and not only permit reasonable beneficial use of the landmark site but also afford appellants opportunities further to enhance not only the Terminal site proper but also other properties.” (Id. at p. 138 [98 S.Ct. at p. 2666], fn. omitted, italics added.) The court emphasized that this holding assumed Penn Central’s “present ability to use the Terminal for its intended purposes and in a gainful fashion.” (Id. at p. 138, fn. 36 [98 S.Ct. at p. 2666].)

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