Court to weigh if payment needed for permit denial

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court is agreeing to decide whether a government's refusal to issue a development permit can amount to "taking" private property for which the owner must be paid. The justices say they will review a Florida Supreme Court decision that sided with a local water management agency in a dispute with a property owner who sought permits to develop land classified as environmentally sensitive. Negotiations over the permits failed when the owner would not agree to conditions that included reducing the size of his project and paying for work on nearby government-owned land. In earlier cases, the U.S. high court has required governments to pay for imposing conditions on development. The case is Koontz v. St. John's River Management District, 11-1447. Published: Wed, Oct 10, 2012