Newsday.com - Long Island News:West Meadow Beach cottage conflict not over
The deadline for residents to leave their beachside villas is past but many say they won’t give them up

I have always been intrigued by the takings clause of the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution ("...nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation"). The idea is that property owners are protected from seizure of their property by government, which is required to pay fair market value for it. But here is an innovative use of the clause by, of all people, renters:

For eight years, Friday's date, Oct. 1 2004, has loomed over renters of the 93 cottages at West Meadow Beach. That was the deadline, set by 1996 state legislation, for the Town of Brookhaven-owned cottages to be vacated to make way for their court-ordered demolition...One motion, filed late Thursday on behalf of a group of cottage residents, challenges the 1996 legislation, which extended the vacate deadline to 2004. Thursday's motion argues that the eviction is an unconstitutional "taking" of property without compensation.
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