text: i have a 3 acre piece of property.homes were build all around me.  im stuck. do i have recourse w/the city? shouldnt the city planner make sure no one is "land locked" as new subdivisions are being approved to be built. my property is 3 acres, but becase i was built all around, my property is now too narrow to get enough houses on to make it attractive to builders to purchase my property. can i do anything about this? i would like to sue the city for allowing this to happen.  plus...they built to the south side of my property and made a dead end street at my land.  so now the say i cannot re-zone for commercial because of the "stub street" my house is very very old and cannot be sold with all these new homes.  my only hope was to sell the property which no one wants because it is too narrow.  help? the issue you present is sometimes referred to as a "constructive taking." it raises the question of whether government action which does not actually appropriate land creates such barriers to its use that it amounts to a "taking" within the meaning of the fifth amendment ("nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation").  generally speaking the courts have answered no to such claims and, on the facts you present, my opinion is that you have little chance of succeeding in any lawsuit.   there is simply no right to demand that city planning authorities act in such a way as to ensure that your land will be attractive to developers.