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Maryland Court of Special Appeals, No. 0228, February 14, 2012: Revised decision holds the purchased non-perpetual agricultural preservation easement at issue does not create charitable trust in Maryland, but abutter has rebuttable presumption that it has standing to bring mandamus action regarding enforcement of the easement by a state entity. The decision issued February 14, 2012, revises [...] US Tax Court, 2012 TC Memo 35, February 6, 2012: Determines fair market value of conservation easement by analyzing highest and best use and comparable sales, rejecting taxpayers’ claim that highest and best use was other than the properties’ present use. At issue was the value of property before donation of conservation easements donated as qualified conservation [...] US Tax Court, T.C. Memo. 2012-1, January 3, 2012: Colorado conservation easement extinguishable by mutual consent of the parties does not guarantee protection in perpetuity under state law as required by Internal Revenue Code. Petitioners (Carpenter) sought a federal qualified conservation contribution tax deduction for a conservation easement granted to a charitable nonprofit that the IRS agreed [...] The Internal Revenue Service publishes a “Conservation Easement Audit Techniques Guide” online at http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=249135,00.html#_Toc223. The publication was last revised September 30, 2011, and last reviewed by the IRS November 22, 2011. The Guide begins with a table of contents in hypertext linked to the chapters of the Guide, reproduced below. In addition to summaries of the many requirements of [...] Dist. Court, D. Idaho, CIV. 1:10-186 WBS, August 29, 2011: Orders production of landowner’s attorneys’ documents related to appraisal of conservation easement value, in suit by landowner against US. The Peskys donated a conservation easement to The Nature Conservancy in 2002. The IRS refused their claim for a qualified conservation contribution tax deduction and assessed a deficiency. [...] Court of Appeals of Colorado, Division VII, No. 10CA1006, August 18, 2011: Affirms district court order requiring state to disclose records about an investigation of conservation easements appraisals used to obtain Colorado tax credits. The Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Board of Real Estate Appraisers (collectively the Board), in connection with a statewide investigation of [...] NY Supreme Court, Westchester County, Index no. 23534/10, July 13, 2011: Summary judgment order by trial court that conservation easement from Town to land trust prohibits the creation of fenced enclosures or “habitat” for the keeping of wolves. The conservation easement was granted by the Town as a condition to receiving a grant from Westchester Land Trust [...] Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2057 C.D. 2010 July 12, 2011: Restriction to “recreational use” in Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (Declaration) does not allow structure or use for basketball court. Unreported opinion. Land acquired by a Township in part with county funds was subject to the Declaration stating the land would be used only “for wildlife [...] U.S. District Court, W.D. Virginia, Charlottesville Division, No. 3:09-CV-00079, June 30, 2011: Memorandum opinion finds the land trust holder of a conservation easement has standing to sue under the federal Clean Water Act because the alleged injury to the property rights of the land trust “provide an irrefutable basis for standing,” and at the pleading stage [...] US Tax Court, 2011 TC Memo 153, June 29, 2011: Tax deduction for conservation easement donated to county denied because owner-county conditional settlement agreement calling for donation was not an “acknowledgment” of the donated property as required by Internal Revenue Code section 170(f)(8). The taxpayer settled a dispute with the county government by entering into a settlement [...] US Tax Court, 136 T.C. No. 15, April 5, 2011: Holds transferable Colorado conservation easement tax credits are a capital asset, but the transaction costs to establish the easement are not basis of the asset, and asset holding period began only when the easement donation was complete and the credits were granted by the state. The Petitioner, [...] US Tax Court, 136 T.C. No. 14, April 5, 2011: Holding that that the Tax Court judge has the same discretion as in a jury trial whether to receive evidence using standards of reliability and relevance, the Tax Court agreed with the IRS to entirely exclude taxpayer’s appraisal from trial record as “unreasonable, unreliable, and irrelevant [...] The Nonprofit Law Prof Blog reported March 8 that “In Private Letter Ruling 201109030 (Dec. 8, 2010), released on March 4 … the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) revoked the federal income tax exemption of an organization … [that] received donations of five conservation easements…” Each easement area was inappropriate in some significant way. The [...] Court of Appeals of South Carolina, Unpublished No. 2011-UP-086, March 1, 2011: Enforces a private negative deed covenant imposed for conservation purposes and enjoins construction of a dock at a community lot in a subdivision. (Opinion has no precedential value under SC rules.) A small limited partnership (“LP”) developed Martins Point with the express goal “to preserve [...] US Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, No. 08-4090, January 11, 2011: Majority holds that the Wilderness Society and other environmental groups (“TWS”) lack “prudential standing” to bring suit under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution challenging a local government’s assertion of rights of way over federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and [...] T.C. Memo. 2010-283; No. 14374-08, December 27, 2010: Tax Court creates its own appraisal of the value of a conservation easement using the before-and-after method; considers evidence of lot sales after the date the easement was donated.
The taxpayer argued that only the comparable sales appraisal method could be used because data on sales of comparables conservation [...] Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, No. 1017, October 5, 2010: Sets aside the conveyance of a portion of land encumbered an agricultural preservation easement that was deeded without the prior approval of the easement holder; affirms that conveyance requires such prior approval. In 1999, owner Stitzel entered into an Agricultural Land Preservation District Agreement with the [...] Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, No. 2-09-1345, September 22, 2010: This appeal of the trial court’s balancing of equities when setting remedies for violation of a conservation easement was denied because the Appellate Court found the a balancing was appropriate and the trial court had not abused its discretion. The easement violation and remedy were [...] United States District Court, W.D. Virginia, No. 3:09-cv-00075, September 29, 2010: This attempt by a conservation easement holder to defend the easement area from treated sewage discharge under a state-issued NPDES permit failed as the Court held that US EPA’s decision not to object to the permit did not require prior review under the National Historic [...] Court Of Appeals of Arizona, Division Two, 2 CA-CV 2009-0186, Aug. 31, 2010: Attorney fees may not be awarded to a private landowner who prevails in a regulatory taking case pursuant to A.R.S. § 11-972(B). The court analyzed the statute and concluded that attorney fees may be awarded only in a physical taking matter and reviewed [...] |
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