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By Glen Hansen

In Garcia v. Governing Board of Bellflower Unified School District (October 24, 2013, B247320) ___ Cal.App.4th ___ a former employee of the Bellflower Unified School District (“District”) filed an extraordinary writ petition against the District relating to her alleged exposure to mold. Her counsel later served on the District’s counsel in that proceeding a request for records from the District pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Gov. Code, § 6250 et seq.) (“PRA”). The letter listed eight (8) categories of records that were requested pursuant to the PRA. During the next month, the former employee’s counsel sent several additional letters and an email to the District’s counsel because the District did not respond to the original letter request. The District’s general counsel finally responded with a letter stating that there were no documents responsive to four of the requests, that two of the requests were overly broad and vague, and that documents responsive to two of the requests were exempt from disclosure. The former employee’s counsel then sent a ‘meet and confer’ letter to the District’s general counsel disputing the District’s objections and responses. But when the District did not respond to that letter, the former employee commenced mandamus proceeding seeking to compel the District to comply with the PRA. Continue Reading A Petitioner Is Entitled To Attorneys’ Fees Under The Public Records Act If The Petitioner Succeeds On Any Significant Issue And Achieves Some Of The Benefit Sought In The Litigation

 By William W. Abbott

Griffith v. Pajaro Valley Water Mgt. Agency (October 14, 2013) ___ Cal.App.4th ___. 

The long saga of the groundwater augmentation strategy for Pajaro Valley in Santa Cruz County has reached its next, and possibly final stopping point. The underlying saga is a telltale forecast of what lies ahead for California, with the inevitable conflicts generated by resource allocation and management. In Griffith, the specific conflict stems from the intersection of groundwater management strategies designed in part to better manage water resources and to reduce saltwater intrusion with the citizen rights created by Proposition 218.Continue Reading Court Affirms Groundwater Augmentation Charge Exempt From Proposition 218 As A Water Service Charge

By Katherine J. Hart

In San Diego Citizenry Group v. County of San Diego (Published August 26, 2013, D059962) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, the Court of Appeal, Fourth District, upheld San Diego County’s (County) certification of an EIR and approval of a Tiered Winery Ordinance Amendment (Winery Ordinance) which permits boutique wineries in agriculturally designated and zoned land in the unincorporated area of the County by right. In ruling on a dispute regarding the cost of transcripts in the administrative record, the Fourth Appellate District reversed the trial court and held appellant was not required to reimburse the County for the costs of transcribing transcripts of the planning commission meetings pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21167.6(e)(4).Continue Reading Transcripts Not Always Required For Administrative Record

By William W. Abbott

As developers pursue infill or re-use opportunities, a predictable question regarding impact fees will arise: To what extent is the developer entitled to a credit for the existing uses onsite which ultimately are displaced by a new project? At least in the case of school facilities, we know from the recent decision in Cresta Bella, LP v. Poway Unified School District (July 31, 2013, D060789) ___ Cal.App.4th ___,that the burden is on the agency to justify the fee, and in the absence of sufficient justification, that the developer may be entitled to a fee refund. Continue Reading School District Failed to Document Justification For Applying Full School Fees to Demolition of and Development of a Multi-family Project

By William W. Abbott

Not surprisingly, the building industry was able to convince the Legislature to keep pending maps alive for another two years. AB 116, Chap. 62 Stats. 2013. Fortunately, the Legislature abandoned its existing complicated statutory formula for determining winners and losers, opting for much simpler protocols. If the TSM was approved after January 1, 2000 and the map was pending on July 11, 2013, the tentative map is extended by 24 months. This extension occurs automatically.Continue Reading California Legislature Breathes Life Into Tentative Maps One More Time

By Glen C. Hansen

For nearly twenty years, Fifth Amendment takings challenges to adjudicative land-use exactions and permit conditions have been governed by the dual Supreme Court cases of Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 825 (1987),and Dolan v. City of Tigard, 512 U.S. 374 (1994). In Nollan, the Court held that a government could, without paying the compensation, demand the easement as a condition for granting a development permit the government was entitled to deny, provided that the exaction would substantially advance the same government interest that would furnish a valid ground for denial of the permit. The Court further refined that requirement in Dolan, holding that an adjudicative exaction requiring dedication of private property must also be “‘roughly proportional’ . . . both in nature and extent to the impact of the proposed development.” However, Nollan and Dolan involved the dedication of real property interests. In Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, ___ U.S. ___, 2013 U.S. Lexis 4918 (2013), the Court held in a 5-4 decision that “the government’s demand for property from a land-use permit applicant must satisfy the requirements of Nollan and Dolan even when the government denies the permit and even when its demand is for money.” Continue Reading The U.S. Supreme Court’s Nollan/Dolan Jurisprudence Is Catching Up With The California Supreme Court in Ehrlich v. Culver City

By William W. Abbott

In California Building Industry Assn. v. City of San Jose (June 6, 2013, H038563) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, the City of San Jose adopted an inclusionary ordinance, requiring that new residential projects include units affordable to specified income ranges. Alternatively, the ordinance permitted the developer to pay an in lieu fee or dedicate land. The California Building Industry Association (“CBIA”) filed suit, challenging the validity of the ordinance on its face on the basis that the ordinance lacked any nexus to the deleterious effects of new residential development. CBIA did not allege that a compensable takings had occurred, but rather argued that the City lacked sufficient justification for the ordinance. The trial court agreed with CBIA and invalidated the ordinance. The City appealed.Continue Reading Appellate Court Reverses Trial Court Invalidation Of Local Inclusionary Ordinance; Remanded For Further Review

By Glen Hansen

In Freeny v. City of San Buenaventura (June 4, 2013, B240893) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held, in an action against a city and five city council members for compensatory and punitive damages for voting against an application for building permits and variances, that public employees’ tort immunity for legislative decision-making under Government Code sections 820.2, 821 and 821.2 applies even when that decision-making is also alleged to involve the making of misrepresentations motivated by actual fraud, corruption or actual malice.Continue Reading Public Officials Are Immune From Tort Liability For Legislative Actions Involving Misrepresentations That Are Motivated By Fraud, Corruption Or Actual Malice.

By Katherine J. Hart

Senate Bill No. 731, Introduced by Senator Darrell Steinberg in February 22, 2013, as amended on April 23, 2013.

I’m the first person to doubt all the chatter about significant CEQA reform. In fact, for reasons I’ll spare you, I’m a complete pessimist when it comes right down to it. But in reviewing Darrell Steinberg’s amended bill, and despite our Governor’s comments in China on the subject last week, I saw a glimmer of hope for some reform.Continue Reading Steinberg’s Amended CEQA Bill – SB 731-May Have A Chance

By William W. Abbott

County of Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles (March 14, 2013, B236732) ___Cal.App.4th ___. The latest illustration of intergovernmental non-cooperation examines the circumstances in which cities can route sewer lines through county rights of way, all without county approval. The facts involve the City of Los Angeles upgrading the capacity of its line to its Hyperion Treatment Plant in Playa Del Rey. Serving the coastal portions of the City, the existing 48 inch line was installed in 1958 but lacked the capacity to serve major storm events. The City studied various options for installing a new 54 inch diameter line. Most of the routing would take place in City streets, but one route involved use of public streets and a public parking lot located in the jurisdiction of the County. For environmental reasons, the City ultimately approved the alignment which involved County streets. The County filed a petition for writ of mandate, alleging violations of the Public Utilities Code and CEQA. The trial court rejected the CEQA claim, but granted relief pursuant to the Public Utilities Code claims, effectively holding that County approval was required. The City appealed. The appellate court reversed the trial court.Continue Reading City May Install Sewer Line in County Right Of Way Without County Permission