ELR Citation: ELR 20092
No(s). 03-1170 (7th Cir. Sep 7, 2004)

The Seventh Circuit held that a motel owner's challenge to a city ordinance that designated its property as a potential target for acquisition is unripe. The owner's claim, whether labeled an equal protection claim or a takings claim, is subject to the special ripeness standards for constitutional property rights claims established in Williamson v. Hamilton Bank, 473 U.S. 172 (1985). The city has not initiated eminent domain proceedings against the owner's properties, let alone failed to provide just compensation for taking those properties. Hence, the owner has suffered no injury under the U.S. Constitution.