The Court of Appeals on Tuesday held in a closely divided opinion that conservation restrictions on the use of private property do not constitute regulatory takings entitling the owner to compensation, as long as the owner does not lose the right to control access by the general public.
Smith v. Town of Mendon, 177, yielded three separate writings that display ideological differences over the rights of private property owners as opposed to the power of government to infringe on those rights in promoting public interests.
