News

Appeals Court rejects Wilmington’s short-term rental registrations, upholds rest of ordinance

The N.C. Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower-court ruling blocking Wilmington from using a registration scheme to limit ownership of short-term rental properties. But the unanimous three-judge panel has restored part of the ordinance struck down in the original court order. Despite a mixed ruling for short-term rental property owners and the city, an...

CJ Staff
News

A highway runs through it: Farmers, landowners question effects of planned bypass  

Property owners in one of the few remaining rural areas of fast-growing Wake County are questioning plans to build a bypass for U.S. 401 that would dissect several long-time family farms.  The plan — orchestrated by the N.C. Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization — could expand the corridor to 19 miles of highway from Banks...

David N. Bass
Video

Pacific Legal Foundation’s Jessica Thompson discusses lawsuit challenging Farmville food truck rules

Jessica Thompson, attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, discusses Ole Time Smokehouse’s lawsuit challenging Farmville Food truck rules. Learn more here: “Food truck owner files court challenge against Farmville regulations.” (Editor’s note: The new rules require a 100-foot buffer between the food truck and a brick-and-mortar restaurant’s property line.)

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Video

Locke’s Jon Guze analyzes latest development in Apex property-rights fight

Jon Guze, John Locke Foundation senior fellow in legal studies, discusses the N.C. Court of Appeals’ ruling in Town of Apex v. Rubin, a case raising significant property-rights issues. Learn more here: “Unanimous Appeals Court gives property owner mixed news in fight with Apex.”

Jon Guze
Video

Pacific Legal’s Erin Wilcox discusses N.C. beachfront property-rights case in federal court

Erin Wilcox, attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation, discusses Zito v. North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission, a federal property-rights case from Nags Head. Learn more here: “North Carolina bureaucrats are about to learn a lesson in the importance of property rights.”

Opinion

North Carolina bureaucrats are about to learn a lesson in the importance of property rights

When is losing the entire value of your property due to government regulation, not an “undue hardship”? According to the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission, the answer is whenever your home is on the coast. In October 2016, Michael and Cathy Zito’s Nags Head beach house burned to the ground.  Luckily no one was hurt, but the bureaucratic nightmare they faced as they attempted to rebuild was incredibly painful....

Erin Wilcox