The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case petitioned to the court by local developers Jeff Nick and Jeff Davis against the city of South Burlington.
Nick and Davis, the owners of a 113.8-acre property at 835 Hinesburg Road in South Burlington, had sued the city shortly after the city council adopted new land use regulations in February 2022. The new rules limited development in designated “habitat blocks,” or wildlife corridors, a move that took about 1,000 acres out of consideration for development citywide.
The developers claimed in their original lawsuit that the regulations, which prevented them from building on approximately a third of their Hinesburg Road property, amounted to an unconstitutional seizure of their property rights.
The property, just south of Interstate 89 on Route 116, was purchased by the developers 20 years ago. Nick and Davis first filed their lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Vermont in 2022, seeking monetary damages as well as an injunction preventing the city from enforcing the regulations.
That suit was dismissed by the court, a decision that was later upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in November 2023. Judges in both courts found that the developers did not have standing to sue the city since Nick and Davis had not yet applied to develop the land, and therefore had not been harmed by the city’s regulations.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case appears to put an end to the challenge to the city’s regulations.
Nick, when reached by phone, declined to comment on the court’s decision, and lawyers for the developers did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Colin McNeil, South Burlington’s city attorney, said that the city was “pleased with the decision” to deny the developers’ petition.
“The city believes this was absolutely the right result and is glad this case has reached a conclusion,” McNeil said. “With the resolution of this case, the city looks forward to working with 835 Hinesburg Road LLC in the future and reviewing any proposal they may have to develop the 835 Hinesburg Road parcel in a manner that is consistent with the city’s land development regulations.”
