Chapter § 9.8 Final Thoughts

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§9.8 FINAL THOUGHTS

GMA-based "development regulations" alone are insufficient tools for counties and cities to use in achieving a wide variety of community land use goals. The separation of development rights from fee simple property, which may then be purchased or transferred, gives viable options to cities and counties for addressing such goals. As noted in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York, 438 U.S. 104, 98 S. Ct. 2646, 57 L. Ed. 2d 631 (1978), the issue of fundamental fairness is one constantly faced when trying to achieve certain community values. Governments cannot "forc[e] some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole." Id. at 123 (quoting Armstrong v. United States, 364 U.S. 40, 49, 80 S. Ct. 1563, 4 L. Ed. 2d 1554 (1960)). Programs that...