The Supreme Court’s Road to El Dorado

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear what could be a landmark property-rights case (Sheetz v. County of El Dorado) with major economic implications. The question is simple: Can governments use building permits to extort property owners?

George Sheetz in 2016 applied for a permit from El Dorado County to build a small home in northern California near Lake Tahoe. The county board of supervisors conditioned the permit on a $23,420 “traffic impact mitigation” fee to cover the costs of expanding public roads to reduce congestion.