Friday, April 17, 1998 | 10:58 a.m.
Bernadine Suitum of Sacramento sued the bistate agency in 1991 after it classified the parcel she and her husband bought in Incline Village in 1972 as a sensitive wetland, prohibiting its future development.
The Nevada Division of State Lands twice offered to buy Suitum's property, but Suitum rejected the offers, saying she wanted eventually to build a retirement residence on the lot.
The U.S. District Court first ruled that Suitum couldn't press her suit until she tried to sell "transferable development rights" assigned to her land in order to determine if she had suffered any economic loss.
Suitum, backed by the Pacific Legal Foundation, appealed the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled last year that she was entitled to her day in court without having to first sell the development rights.
Suitum's attorneys and the TRPA agreed to have a federal magistrate hear the case in U.S. District Court in Reno. On Wednesday, Judge Robert McQuaid ruled that Suitum won't be allowed to claim punitive damages if she wins her lawsuit.
The judge ruled that the TRPA, as a municipal form of government, can't be held liable for such damages as emotional pain or medical difficulties, unless its actions were intended to inflict pain.
Susan Scholley, a TRPA staff attorney, said the decision wasn't crucial for the agency, but was still welcome. "It certainly puts a cap on the extent of any loss," Scholley said.
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