Also known as: physical nexus · economic nexus · nexus
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A connection between a government-imposed condition on a development permit and the projected impacts of the proposed development. The connection is assessed by examining whether the condition mitigates harms caused by the development and advances a legitimate governmental interest that would justify outright denial of the permit.
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Patrick Phan sought a permit to expand his hardware store onto adjacent land. The city conditioned approval on his dedicating a strip for a greenway and a path for a bike trail. The city offered no individualized findings showing that the required dedications bore a physical and economic nexus to the traffic or environmental effects of the modest expansion. Without that connection the conditions could not stand.
Priscilla Parks applied for a permit to build a larger home on her oceanfront lot. The commission required her to grant a public easement across the dry sand as a condition of approval. The easement bore no physical and economic nexus to any harm caused by the house itself. The demand therefore effected a taking.
Precision Tools sought approval to redevelop an industrial site. The city refused the permit unless the company paid a large sum to fund off-site park improvements. The payment demand lacked a physical and economic nexus to the project's actual effects on public space. The refusal to issue the permit therefore constituted a taking.
The analysis looks first to the physical and economic relationship between the permit condition and the projected impacts of the development. It then examines whether that condition advances a legitimate governmental interest that would justify outright denial of the permit.
Supporting sources