Also known as: developments · developing · developed · land development · real estate development
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
3 senses
An activity involving the improvement or alteration of real property through construction, grading, or other physical changes that convert undeveloped land into developed land. A landowner acquires a vested right to complete such activity upon substantial good-faith expenditures made in reliance on existing permits or zoning.
An activity involving the improvement or alteration of real property through construction, grading, or other physical changes that convert undeveloped land into developed land. A landowner acquires a vested right to complete such activity upon substantial good-faith expenditures made in reliance on existing permits or zoning.
Damian Decker obtained a building permit for a warehouse on his parcel and spent $400,000 on site preparation and foundation work. The city then rezoned the area to prohibit warehouses. Decker may complete the project because his substantial expenditures in good-faith reliance on the permit created a vested right that the rezoning cannot defeat.
Confidential research, engineering, or commercial information developed by a party and entitled to protection from disclosure in civil discovery upon a showing of good cause.
Dawson Steel sued a competitor for misappropriation and sought discovery of the rival's internal engineering files. The court entered a protective order under which the competitor's confidential development records could be reviewed only by outside counsel and designated experts, preventing broader disclosure.
Drake Logistics received a subpoena demanding production of its proprietary logistics algorithms. The court quashed the subpoena because compliance would require disclosure of confidential research, development, and commercial information without adequate justification or protective conditions.
The normal, reasonably foreseeable intensification or change in use of a dominant estate that an easement or servitude was understood to accommodate at the time of its creation.
Darius Dixon conveyed an access easement across his land to serve Deanna Davenport's adjacent farm. When Davenport later subdivided the farm into residential lots, Dixon objected to increased traffic. The easement permits the intensified use because the original conveyance contemplated normal development of the dominant parcel.
Desert Oil recorded a declaration imposing use restrictions on every lot in a new residential subdivision before selling any parcels. When a buyer later attempted to violate the restrictions, the court enforced them because the recorded declaration created servitudes binding all lots in the general-plan development.
Confidential research, engineering, or commercial information developed by a party and entitled to protection from disclosure in civil discovery upon a showing of good cause.
The normal, reasonably foreseeable intensification or change in use of a dominant estate that an easement or servitude was understood to accommodate at the time of its creation.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Davenport Pharmaceuticals sought a permit to expand its facility. The city conditioned approval on dedication of a strip of land for a public trail. The company prevailed because the city failed to show that the required dedication was roughly proportional to the traffic and other impacts generated by the expansion.
The owner must demonstrate good-faith reliance on a permit or existing zoning together with substantial expenditures or other detrimental change in position. Once those elements are met, the municipality cannot apply a later rezoning to block completion of the project.
Vested rights protect a landowner's ability to complete development begun under prior law, whereas amortization ordinances allow a reasonable period to phase out an already existing nonconforming use. The two doctrines address different stages: one protects in-progress projects, the other limits continuation of completed but now-nonconforming uses.
A court may require that trade-secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information be revealed only under specified conditions, such as limited access or sealed filings, when the producing party shows good cause that unrestricted disclosure would cause harm.
…and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. In support of this, they outline at length and in detail the well-known facts of fetal development. If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the Amendment. The…