The Cato Institute has a post flagging a Florida property rights case involving a city ordinance that bars ocean-front property owners from building docks:
Sanibel passed an ordinance forbidding the Kentners and others from taking advantage of this common-law right. The city claimed that the ordinance was necessary to protect seagrass, which it called an "invaluable natural resource."
Whether or not seagrass is invaluable, the city passed the ordinance without considering whether seagrass was actually present in the areas subject to the ordinance and whether modern technology could effectively be used to avoid harming the seagrass. Moreover, there is evidence that the city passed the ordinance in order to satisfy the aesthetic preferences of certain interest groups and to enhance the property values of other dock-holders. On top of that, in 2006 the city issued itself an exemption to build a dock in San Carlos Bay, explaining that it should be allowed to build a dock because no seagrass was found on the site.
The Kentners, represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, challenged the ordinance on the ground that it did not substantially advance any legitimate government interest. In other words, the Kentners claimed that the ordinance violated the due-process rights to their property, which is lawyer-speak for laws that don't have a good-enough justification. Both the trial and appellate judges held that property rights aren't "fundamental rights" protected by due process, thus ruling that the government didn't need a good reason to pass these restrictions. In other words, property rights simply don't enjoy protection against irrational government regulations.
The case is awaiting review by the Supreme Court of the U.S. Let's hope they decide to hear it.