In 1972, South Carolina enacted a Coastal Zone Management Act requiring any person using land in a ‘‘critical area'' to obtain a permit for any uses other than those to which the critical area was devoted when the Act went into effect on September 28, 1977. In 1986, Lucas paid $975,000 for two residential lots on Isle of Palms in Charleston County, South Carolina, on which he intended to develop a residential subdivision known as ‘‘Beachwood East.''
Because no portion of those lots was included in a ‘‘critical area'' at that time, Lucas was not required to obtain a permit. In 1988, however, South Carolina enacted the Beachfront Management Act, which established a ‘‘baseline'' for the landward-most points of erosion and in effect barred the erection of any permanent habitable structures on his two parcels.
Lucas filed suit in state court, claiming that the new statute violated his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights by taking property without compensation. Is he entitled to just compensation for his property? Explain.