OPINION
Before the court is Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint and Memorandum in Support Thereof (Def.’s Mot.), Plaintiffs Response in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint (Pl.’s Resp.) and Defendant’s Reply Brief in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff Second Amended Complaint (Def.’s Reply). For the following reasons, defendant’s motion is GRANTED.
I. Background
Plaintiff Jane Patience Kemp alleges that the United States effected a temporary taking of her property by a 1980 Act of Congress that expanded the boundaries of the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). [Second] Amended Complaint (Compl.) ¶ 1. Pursuant to an Act of December 22, 1980, Pub.L. No. 96-560, § 111(a), 94 Stat. 3265 (1980), the United States increased the size of the National Park “by acquiring property that belonged to private property owners, including approximately 29.55 acres of private property owned by [p]laintiff.” Id. Plaintiff complains that the United States “use[d] [p]laintiffs property for public [purposes]” from December 1980 until December 1999 when “[p]laintiff sold the property to a private third party.” Id. ¶¶ 10-11. Plaintiff states that, during the nineteen years of property use by the United States, she and her mother, “her predecessor-in-interest[,] ... retained title to the property ... and paid taxes associated with the property.” Id.
Defendant has moved to dismiss plaintiffs second amended complaint. See Rule 12(b)(1) of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). Defendant argues that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear plaintiffs claim because the claim is time-barred. Def.’s Mot. at 1.
II. Discussion
A. Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction
1. Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims is set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1491, which states that “[t]he United States Court of Federal Claims shall have jurisdiction to render judgment upon any claim against the United States founded either upon the Constitution, or any Act of Congress or any regulation of an executive department, or upon any express or implied contract with the United States, or for liquidated or unliq-uidated damages in cases not sounding in tort.” 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a)(1) (2000). The timeliness of an action also determines jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2501. See Alder Terrace, Inc. v. United States,
2. Standard of Review
Dismissal of a claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is governed by Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims. RCFC 12(b)(1). “The requirement that jurisdiction be established as a threshold matter ... is ‘inflexible and without exception.’” Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Env’t,
“[although according to case law, the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing subject matter jurisdiction by a preponderance of the evidence, (citation omitted), a complaint should not be dismissed ‘unless it is beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts which would entitle him to relief.’ ” [Bagwell v. United States, 21 Cl.Ct.] at 725, quoting Hamlet,873 F.2d at 1416 ; see also Ewald v. United States,14 Cl.Ct. 378 , 382 (1988), quoting Juda v. United States,6 Cl.Ct. 441 , 450 (1984) (“Denial of a taking claim on the basis of the defense of limitations is warranted only when the facts alleged demonstrate conclusively that such a decision is required as a matter of law.”).
Pl.’s Resp. at 4-5.
3. Takings Claims: Physical v. Regulatory
Under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, private property cannot be taken “for public use, without just compensation.” U.S. Const, amend. V. There are two classes of takings cases, physical and regulatory. Yee v. City of Escondido,
A regulatory taking, on the other hand, occurs “when a regulatory or administrative action places such burdens on the ownership of private property that essential elements of such ownership must be viewed as having been taken____” Hendler v. United States,
4. Plaintiffs Claim Is For a Physical Taking
Plaintiff states that her claim is for a physical taking. Pl.’s Resp. at 7 (“The Federal
The court agrees with plaintiff that her claim falls into the category of physical takings. Plaintiffs claim is therefore governed by the law of physical takings, rendering a regulatory takings analysis inapplicable. See Tahoe-Sierra Pres. Council, Inc. v. Tahoe Reg’l Planning,
Plaintiff, however, relies on case law concerning temporary regulatory takings to support her claim for compensation. Pl.’s Resp. at 8-9. Plaintiff asserts that the statute of limitations on her claims begins to run only when the temporary taking has ended, citing Creppel v. United States,
Cases on physical takings hold that the statute of limitations begins to run when the United States comes into physical possession of the plaintiffs land. United States v. Dow,
5. Takings Claims: Temporary v. Permanent
“[T]he concept of permanent physical occupation does not require that in every instance the occupation be exclusive, or continuous and uninterrupted.” Hendler v. United States,
Temporary regulatory takings, a category of takings inapplicable here, generally arise in two circumstances: when the owner is “temporarily deprived ... of all or substantially all economically viable use of their property” or when there is “ ‘extraordinary delay in the regulatory process.” Walcek v. United States,
6. Plaintiffs Claim Is For a Permanent Physical Taking
Plaintiff alleges that the expansion of the National Park by congressional act “increased the park’s size by acquiring property that belonged to private property owners, including approximately 29.55 acres of [plaintiffs] property.” Compl. 111. Plaintiff states that “[u]pon the effective date of the Act, the United States utilized the property as its own and for public use as part of the [National Park].” Id.
The Act of Congress alleged to have effected the taking is Public Law No. 96-560, 94 Stat. 3265 (Dec. 22, 1980). Section 111(a) of Public Law No. 96-560 provides that “[t]he boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park ... are revised as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘Boundary Adjustments, Rocky Mountain National Park____’All lands added or transferred by this Act to Rocky Mountain National Park ... shall be subject to the laws and regulations applicable to the appropriate National Park or National Forest.” Pub.L. No. 96-560. The effective date of this act was December 22,1980. Id.
Plaintiff asserts that her claim involves a temporary taking because she was deprived of the full use of her property for “a fixed period of time.” Pl.’s Resp. at 8. Plaintiff claims the fixed period began with the NPS’ physical occupation of her land in 1980 and ended when Ms. Kemp sold the property in 1999. Id. Like the plaintiff in Hendler, however, Ms. Kemp offers no evidence that public use of her property ceased upon its sale to a third party; and, even if the taking were assumed to have ended, the court could not, as a matter of law, view a nineteen year case as temporary. See Hendler,
Plaintiff argues that the temporary taking must end before an owner can seek compensation, but that theory has been held invalid: even if the claim were properly viewed as a regulatory taking, the regulation that results in a taking does not have to cease for a finding of a temporary taking. Bass Enters. Prod. Co. v. United States,
As plaintiff acknowledges, however, this case is a physical taking. Pl.’s Resp. at 7. The Court in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission stated that “where individuals are given a permanent and continuous right to pass to and fro, so that the real property may continuously be traversed,” a permanent physical taking has occurred.
7. Other Possible Bases For Finding the Complaint Timely Filed
Although the authorities the court has cited indicate that Ms. Kemp’s claim is barred by the statute of limitations because it was not filed within six years of the date the claim first accrued, (December 22, 1980, the date on which the government expanded the boundaries of the National Park and began to use Ms. Kemp’s land), plaintiff asserts that the claim did not accrue until the temporary taking ended in 1999, when she sold her land to a third party. Pl.’s Resp. at 1-2. Plaintiffs argument resembles to some extent the argument of the plaintiff in United States v. Dickinson, although plaintiff does not cite the case in her brief. See United States v. Dickinson,
In Dickinson, the Supreme Court held that “a taking by a continuous process of physical events” does not accrue until the situation becomes stabilized. Dickinson,
Dickinson, however, has not been read to cover any circumstances clearly analogous to those of plaintiff. Cf Fallini,
Dickinson does not stand for the proposition that uncertainty of any kind will bar accrual of a claim. Fallini,
“A claim accrues when all the events have occurred that fix the alleged liability of the Government and entitle the plaintiff to institute an action.” Alliance of Descendants of Texas Land Grants v. United States,
Although not addressed as an argument by plaintiff, the court has considered the possibility that there is an analogy between Ms. Kemp’s circumstances and those of the plaintiffs inBanks v. United States. See
In this connection, the court has considered the text of Section 111(b) of Public Law 96-560, which states that, “[t]he Secretary of the Interior, with respect to lands added or transferred by this Act to Rocky Mountain National Park, ... may acquire lands and interests in such lands, by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or by exchange.” Act of December 22, 1980, Pub.L. No. 96-560, § 111(b), 94 Stat. 3265 (1980). Section 2201.1 of Title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations sets forth the required elements for initiating an exchange, including a description of the lands involved and appraisals. 43 C.F.R. §§ 2201.1(c)(2),
Ms. Kemp’s complaint, however, contains absolutely no suggestion that she has been persuaded by actions of the United States to delay in bringing this claim because the United States was undertaking actions which would eliminate the cause of the alleged taking. Here, the government was using plaintiffs land openly and continuously. Pl.’s Resp. at 2-3. The government’s open and continuous use of plaintiffs land distinguishes this case from cases involving exchange regimes in aid of the creation of, for example, Voyageurs National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore. Cf. Althaus v. United States,
III. Conclusion
Because plaintiffs claim is time-barred, the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the action. Defendant’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court is directed to dismiss the complaint. No costs.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Notes
. The Court disregards references to the ownership of the property by plaintiff’s mother because the property was owned by plaintiff at the time of the taking. Pl.’s Resp. at 2 (stating that plaintiff received title from her mother on December 23, 1977).
. Temporary and permanent regulatory takings "are not different in kind.” First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of Glendale v. County of Los Angeles,
