KIRBY, ET AL. v. NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Documents:
Motion for Admission Pro Hac Vice (Nov. 6, 2015)
Motion to File Brief Amicus Curiae (Nov. 6, 2015)
Order Allowing Pro Hac Vice Admission (Dec. 15, 2015)
Case Summary:
The Civitas Institute Center for Law and Freedom (CLF) and the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) filed a joint amicus brief asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to uphold the rights of property owners against unconstitutional takings.
The case of Kirby v. North Carolina Department of Transportation – commonly referred to as the “Map Act case” – involves facts dating back 25 years. In the late 1980s, the NC Department of Transportation began using the “Transportation corridor official map act” to designate “transportation corridors” within which landowners are prohibiting from developing their properties for certain uses. For example, one provisions of the Map Act states that within such corridors “no building permit shall be issued for any building or structure or part thereof located within…nor shall approval of a subdivision…be granted with respect to property within the transportation corridor.”
Attorney Matthew Bryant of Winston-Salem argued that these “transportation corridors” amounted to unconstitutional takings of property without just compensation. After losing in Forsyth County Superior Court, Bryant and his clients won their case at the North Carolina Court of Appeals, which ruled unanimously in their favor in 2015.
The North Carolina Supreme Court granted a discretionary appeal in order to have a final say in the matter.
CLF filed the brief in cooperation with the Pacific Legal Foundation, the first and oldest conservative/libertarian law firm in the United States. The North Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Kirby early in 2016.