Suitum v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

Summary

Justice Souter's opinion held that Suitum satisfied the final-decision requirement for her regulatory takings claim without attempting to sell her transferable development rights (TDRs). The agency had conclusively prohibited development of her parcel, and neither approval of particular TDR transfers nor uncertainty about their market value required further administrative proceedings. Abbott Laboratories supplied no independent basis for finding the claim unripe. The Court vacated the Ninth Circuit's judgment and remanded, leaving unresolved the substantive relevance of TDRs to whether a taking occurred and compliance with the state-compensation-procedures requirement. Justice Scalia, joined by Justices O'Connor and Thomas, concurred in part and in the judgment but declined to join Parts II–B and II–C. He reasoned that TDRs concern compensation rather than restrictions on the owner's use of land and therefore have no bearing on the final-decision inquiry.