Defined term
Sheetz v. County of El Dorado
Sheetz v. County of El Dorado is the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision confirming that legislatively-imposed development fees and exactions are subject to Fifth Amendment Nollan/Dolan scrutiny.
In Sheetz, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause does not distinguish between adjudicative exactions (imposed case-by-case) and legislative exactions (set by ordinance). Both must satisfy the Nollan/Dolan tests of essential nexus and rough proportionality.
For property owners, the decision dramatically expanded the universe of challengeable exactions. Many cities and counties impose flat impact fees by ordinance — for traffic, schools, parks — that bear no individualized relationship to the proposed development's impact. Post-Sheetz, those flat fees are vulnerable to constitutional challenge.
Cases
- Sheetz v. County of El Dorado (2024), 601 U.S. ___
- Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n (1987), 483 U.S. 825
- Dolan v. City of Tigard (1994), 512 U.S. 374
Statutes
- U.S. Const. amend. V