The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [63]
“According to the Takings Clause of the Constitution,” Lisa interjected, “the state cannot take land without paying the owner a reasonable value for it. In this case, the value is the money the property would have brought in if it was made into a skyscraper.”
“But I thought you said it was rezoned,” Nathan said. “How is zoning a taking?”
“That’s exactly the question,” Ben said. “Zoning isn’t considered a taking as long as the zoning furthers important community interests. For example, a city can zone an area of land as residential to keep away commercial developers and to ensure that a community thrives. That’s fair zoning. The issue here is whether preserving a historic landmark furthers the community’s interests.”
“It obviously does,” Lisa said, “since the landmark is part of the community. It helps protect the history of the community, and it also helps attract tourists to the community.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” Ben said. Looking back to Nathan, he explained, “Lisa and I disagree on this one. I think it’s definitely a taking. Just look at the facts: This investment group paid millions of dollars for this property, which, when they bought it, was allowed to have commercial development on it. They should have been able to rely on that information. Instead, Lisa thinks it’s okay for the government to come in and say, ‘Sorry, we changed our minds. You can’t build anything here and, moreover, you can’t even touch the church since it’s a historic landmark.’ That’s crazy. The government just waltzed in and effectively took the land from the owners. Grinnell and Company now have a dingy old church that’s basically worthless.”
“It’s not worthless. Now they own a historic landmark.”
“Lisa, no one is coming to New York City to see this run-down church. It’s not Disney World. They can’t charge admission. They’re stuck with it as is.”
“If the land needs so much protection, why doesn’t the government just pay Grinnell for it?” Nathan asked. “Why should a private citizen have to bear the burden of paying for a historic site that everyone else enjoys for free?”
“There you go,” Ben said. “I told you you should’ve gone to law school.”
“But the owner still owns a historic monument,” Lisa said.
“Big deal,” Ben said. “What are the bragging rights going to get you? If you can’t make money from it, you’ve got fifty million dollars sunk into a stamp collection you can’t sell.”
“What’s wrong with that?” Lisa asked. “Otherwise, we bulldoze history so we can have more strip malls.”
“Listen, I don’t want to sound like Scrooge here, but history doesn’t pay the bills. This group invested millions of dollars because they relied on the city’s zoning. If the city changes its mind, then the city should compensate whoever it screws. Period.”
“Ben, you’re saying we should—”
“Okay, I think we get the idea,” Nathan interrupted. “I’m sure you two can go at it all night, but some of us have work tomorrow.”
“Besides, it’s not our decision,” Ben said. “Hollis and crew will tell us what to write, and that’ll be it.”
“Precisely,” Nathan said, closing his duffel. “So let’s wrap this up. Is there anything else we need to discuss?”
“I think that’s about it,” Ben said. “Let’s hope it goes well tomorrow.”
“And if it doesn’t, I just hope you don’t freak out and become a sick and twisted version of yourself,” Ober said.
“What are you talking about?” Lisa asked.
“Oh, no,” Ben moaned. “Not the Batman theory.”
“What?” Lisa asked.
“I don’t know if you’ll be able to handle it,” Ober said.
“I’ll take my chances.