Maryland Construction Company Sues Montgomery County Over Limits on Homebuilding
When Are Land-Use Restrictions an Unconstitutional Taking?
One of the nation’s largest homebuilding companies, Pulte Home Corporation, invested millions in plans to build nearly a thousand homes on 541-acre site designated for residential development in Clarksburg, Maryland. Then the Montgomery County Council changed the 1994 Clarksburg Master Plan to limit homebuilding, citing environmental risks to Maryland’s Ten Mile Creek and its watershed. Under the new Master Plan, only 96 acres can be used for homebuilding
Now Pulte is suing Montgomery County and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in Montgomery County Circuit Court, claiming that its constitutional rights have been violated. The construction company alleges that the defendants ignored relevant evidence and imposed more restrictive development limits, environmental standards, and zoning requirements on their land than on other private property owners in the watershed area.
The restrictions, it says, prevent the company from making any reasonable economic use of the land and are so confiscatory that they amount to an unconstitutional “taking” without just compensation, in violation of both the U.S. and Maryland constitutions. The restrictions lack scientific support and are targeted unfairly at the company, according to the court filings.
From 2005 to 2006 Pulte paid $46.6 million for 404 of the 541 acres, and the company has the right to buy 136 more. A spokesman for Pulte claims that, for over a year, the company worked closely with county officials and planners on an economically viable plan for development that also addressed environmental issues. The new Master Plan upends those efforts and wrecks the company’s economic expectations, according to Pulte.
Real estate development is a lengthy and often risky process. There can be problems at every stage land acquisitions and assemblage, regulatory and zoning approvals, construction before the units are even put on the market. To succeed requires determination, patience and skilled legal help with the challenges, anticipated and unanticipated, along the way.
The real estate litigation attorneys at Longman & Van Grack have expertise representing clients in all types of disputes involving the real property, development and construction industries, from contract disputes to constitutional questions. Contact us today at (301) 291-5027 to schedule a free consultation in Bethesda or Rockville, Maryland.
