Douglas County v. Briggs

The issue in this declaratory judgment proceeding is whether Douglas County’s decision to eliminate all access from defendant’s property to an abutting county road is a taking for which compensation must be paid. The circuit court concluded that a compensable taking had occurred and entered judgment for defendants. The county appeals, contending that the elimination of access was an exercise of police power.

Defendants own two adjacent parcels of land which lie between and abut two parallel county roads. Valley View Drive, which is to the south of defendants’ property, is a paved two-lane…