Opinion Number

Dear Representative White,

You have requested an opinion of this Office regarding whether compensation must be paid by the government to a landowner when an amendment to a city ordinance ultimately results in a regulatory taking of private property. A regulatory taking is one that occurs when governmental regulations compel a property owner to suffer a physical invasion of property or denies the owner of all economically beneficial or productive use of his land.1 A regulatory taking may also occur "if there has been a substantial diminution in value to such an extent that there has been a…