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If we accept that a parking mandate is a taking, the 14th amendment does empower Congress to pass legislation to enforce the rights. But the property owners could have filed suit on their own, right? Parking minimums have been around for a long time; if there was legal uncertainty, I'd expect some court cases about it? Many property owners have resources to fight such a case.

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Don't know if there has ever been a Federal case involving parking minimums, but in general the Supreme Court has been extremely deferential to local government regarding zoning issues. In my view, the Court was incorrect on some of these rulings, and it would be interesting if Congress tried to rectify the situation.

My thoughts are if the Court thinks local zoning isn't a taking, it may also think Congress isn't empowered to intervene either. (Of course, the elephant in the room is it seems Congress would be unlikely to pass something like this unless it's rolled up into something else.

This particular bill would only apply to properties near a transit stop. The Feds already provide considerable financial support to local transit operators, and could simply cut off support to localities that do not support TOD policies.

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