The decision of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Idaho in SilverWing at Sandpoint, LLC v. Bonner County, a case that has been “hanging fire” for almost two years, was worth the wait. On Friday, November 21, 2014, the Court granted Defendant Bonner County (“Bonner County”) summary judgment on all Plaintiff SilverWing at Sandpoint, LLC’s (“SilverWing”) federal claims for inverse condemnation, or “taking,” of private property by a public entity without just compensation, in violation of the 5th Amendment to the United States Constitution, and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, or violation of a plaintiff’s constitutional or other federal rights by a person acting under color of state law. See, e.g., Monell v. Department of Social Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 690 (1978). In addition, the Court granted summary judgment on SilverWing’s state law contract claim for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
The Court’s ruling was substantially based on the concept of federal preemption. Preemption of state or local law occurs under one of three scenarios: (1) where the federal government affirmatively expresses an intent to preempt (express preemption); (2) where it has enacted laws which so substantially occupy the specified field that they leave no room for state or local law (field preemption); or (3) state or local law directly conflicts with federal law, or state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment of the full purposes and objectives of Congress (conflict preemption). See, e.g., Montalvo v. Spirit Airlines, 508 F.3d 464, 470 (9th Cir. 2007). In this case, therefore, the Court held that Bonner County was acting properly and in accordance with federal law that it had no power to contradict, and, therefore, could not be held responsible for the impacts.