On September 23, 2016, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District affirmed a trial court decision denying a petition for writ of mandate filed by a developer challenging various fees—totaling nearly $600,000—in connection with an 11-unit subdivision and condominium complex in West Hollywood. 616 Croft Ave., LLC v. City of West Hollywood, __ Cal.App.5th __ (2016) (Case No. BC498004).
The case is the first reported appellate decision to rely upon the broad holding of the California Supreme Court’s blockbuster 2015 affordable housing case, California Building Industry Assn. v. City of San Jose, and it boldly highlights the far reaching implications of that ruling. In my opinion, it also underscores the ongoing need for the United States Supreme Court to finally address whether the heightened scrutiny of the Nollan, Dolan, and Koontz Fifth Amendment takings cases applies to legislatively imposed permit conditions. We wrote about that issue earlier this year after the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in the CBIA case, and we note that the Court will soon have another opportunity to grant certiorari on this important issue.