Tabrizi v. City of Austin

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Chief Justice *294Texas cities enjoy governmental immunity and cannot be sued absent some recognized waiver of that immunity.1 What recourse, then, does a property owner have when a city applies, or misapplies, its municipal land use regulations so as to deny a fair use of their property? At the extreme, if the City substantially deprives a landowner of all economically viable uses of the property, the City is subject to a constitutional takings claim which overcomes governmental immunity.2 If the land use regulation is illegal or unconstitutional, a property owner may seek…