A panel of judges of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Tuesday for a property rights lawsuit against the City of Kemah, questioning the parties about steps property owners must take before seeking relief from the federal courts when the government has rendered property unusable through regulation.
In July 2021, then-Kemah building code official and acting fire marshal Brandon Shoaf ordered a four-story building housing multiple businesses closed for alleged but non-specified “life-safety issues,” effectively revoking the owner’s certificate of occupancy. Shoaf did not provide the owner with a pre-deprivation notice or the opportunity to contest findings in a hearing.
