Briggs v. City of Rolling Hills Estates

• Decision Date: 28 November 1995
• Docket Number: No. B083200,B083200
• Citation: 40 Cal.App.4th 637,47 Cal.Rptr.2d 29
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: , 95 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8977, 95 Daily Journal D.A.R. 15,675 Rodney A. BRIGGS et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. CITY OF ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Defendant and Respondent.

Page 29

47 Cal.Rptr.2d 29

40 Cal.App.4th 637, 95 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8977,

95 Daily Journal D.A.R. 15,675

Rodney A. BRIGGS et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. CITY OF ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Defendant and Respondent.

No. B083200.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 4, California.

Nov. 28, 1995.

Review Denied Feb. 22, 1996.

[40 Cal.App.4th 639] James S. Link, Pasadena, for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Adams, Duque & Hazeltine, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae and Richard R. Terzian, Los Angeles, for Defendant and Respondent.

CHARLES S. VOGEL, Associate Justice.

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiffs and appellants Rodney and Nancy Briggs own a home in the city of defendant and respondent City of Rolling Hills Estates. As a condition of permitting a substantial addition to plaintiffs' house, the city required that an unapproved patio/deck which intruded on a neighbor's privacy be removed. Plaintiffs did not seek judicial review of this condition by administrative mandamus (Code Civ.Proc., § 1094.5) but instead brought this action for injunctive relief and damages under the federal Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. § 1983), alleging that the city's neighborhood compatibility ordinance is void for vagueness and that the city wrongfully deprived plaintiffs of their constitutional right to use their property. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the city, holding that the ordinance is not on its face unconstitutionally vague and that plaintiffs' other contentions are precluded by plaintiffs' failure to challenge the city's action directly by administrative mandamus. We affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs admitted virtually all of the facts asserted in defendant's separate statement of undisputed facts. This case therefore presents a question of law for our independent review on the undisputed facts. (Code Civ.Proc., § 437c, subds. (b), (c); B & E Convalescent Center v. State Compensation Ins. Fund (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 78, 88-89, 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 894.)

In order to preserve the character of established neighborhoods, deemed integral to the city's rural character, the city has a "neighborhood compatibility" ordinance, City of Rolling Hills Estates Municipal Code former section 1816, governing new construction and modifications of existing structures in established neighborhoods. It provides design criteria and objectives to maintain the established character of neighborhoods. Seven objectives are set forth with standards addressing (1) natural amenities, (2) neighborhood character, (3) scale, (4) style, (5) privacy, (6) landscaping, and (7) views. Regarding privacy, the standard relevant here, the ordinance provides, "Proposals shall preserve the open space and rural character of the surrounding neighborhood. Designs shall respect the existing privacy of surrounding properties by maintaining an adequate amount of separation between the proposed structure(s) and adjacent property lines. In addition, the design of balconies, decks and windows should also respect the existing privacy of surrounding properties."

Plaintiffs own the home at 27746 Palos Verdes Drive East in defendant city. In July 1990 plaintiffs applied for a variance to construct four additions to the residence, totaling 1250 square feet. The proposal met neighborhood compatibility requirements and the variance was granted, with standard conditions that the development shall be constructed as shown on exhibits to the application and that any substantial modifications shall receive prior approval of the planning commission. In December 1990 plaintiffs submitted a second application involving revised plans. It too met neighborhood compatibility requirements and was granted. Neither application, however, showed an existing patio/deck on the northern portion of the property or indicated plaintiffs intended to construct a patio/deck.

During construction of the approved house addition, the city discovered in March 1992, as a result of neighbor complaints, the existence of the patio/deck, a nonapproved structure. The city required plaintiffs to submit a revised site plan and application for planning commission approval of various unapproved items including the patio/deck, and issued a "stop all work" notice. Plaintiffs submitted a new variance and neighborhood compatibility application in May 1992. The planning commission held public hearings on the application in June and July 1992. A number of neighbors voiced concerns that the patio/deck created a loss of privacy and created noise and light concerns. In July 1992, the planning commission adopted a resolution approving certain requests but denying plaintiffs' request for the patio/deck. This resolution stated that as a condition of obtaining final zone clearance, all nonapproved structures must be removed. Final approval by the planning commission is required after construction is completed in order to obtain permission to occupy the premises.

Plaintiffs appealed the planning commission decision to the city council. In August 1992, the city council affirmed the planning commission decision and adopted a resolution similar to the planning commission's resolution, i.e., requiring that before final approval, the nonapproved patio/deck must be removed.

Plaintiffs did not seek judicial review of the city council's decision by way of administrative mandamus under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5. Rather, plaintiffs filed this action in March 1993, alleging three causes of action under the federal Civil Rights Act. In their third cause of action plaintiffs asserted the neighborhood compatibility ordinance is unconstitutional on its face on the grounds it is purely aesthetic with no substantial health, safety, or public welfare purpose and it has no objective criteria to guide officials in making a determination. In their first cause of action plaintiffs asserted that by reason of negligence and oral statements of city officials, and plaintiffs' substantial completion of the house addition In granting defendant's motion for summary judgment the trial court held (1) the ordinance is not unconstitutionally vague and (2) plaintiffs' failure to file an action for administrative mandamus to challenge the city's determination bars plaintiffs' present claims under the federal Civil Rights Act. We agree.

                before the patio/deck problem was discovered, plaintiffs had acquired a vested property right to have final zone clearance and permission to occupy the house, and that the patio/deck problem should be handled separately, instead of final zone clearance for the house addition being used as "leverage."   In their second cause of action plaintiffs asserted the city's decision on the merits of the patio/deck privacy issue was irrational, arbitrary, and unsupported by the evidence, and the city denied due process to plaintiffs because the decision was prejudged and made solely to "soothe adjacent property owners."   Plaintiffs sought an injunction against enforcement of the ordinance and against enforcement of the condition for removal of the patio/deck prior to issuance of final zone clearance, and damages for being unable to occupy the house after September 1992, when the house was otherwise ready for occupancy. 1
                

DISCUSSION

Vagueness

Plaintiffs contend the ordinance is vague on its face. Insofar as applicable here, the ordinance provides that designs "shall respect the existing privacy of surrounding properties by maintaining an adequate amount of separation between proposed structure(s) and adjacent property lines. In addition, the design of balconies, decks and windows should also respect the existing privacy of surrounding properties."

A statute cannot forbid or require the doing of an act in terms so vague that persons of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application. It must provide some standard of conduct for those whose activities are proscribed and for the agencies called upon to ascertain compliance. (Ross v. City of Rolling Hills Estates (1987) 192 Cal.App.3d 370, 375, 238 Cal.Rptr. 561.) But on the other hand, especially in regard to zoning matters, laws must be written broadly enough to allow substantial discretion to administrative bodies and need not be so rigid as to eliminate all possible differences of opinion. (Novi v. City of Pacifica (1985) 169 Cal.App.3d 678, 682, 215 Cal.Rptr. 439.)

We find that in requiring the design to "respect the existing privacy of surrounding properties" the ordinance is not unconstitutionally vague. In Ross v. City of Rolling Hills Estates, supra, 192 Cal.App.3d at pages 374-376, 238 Cal.Rptr. 561, the court upheld the city's view ordinance against an argument that words such as "needless," "discourage," "view," "impairment" and "significantly obstructed" made it unconstitutionally vague. ² In Novi v. City of Pacifica, supra, 169 Cal.App.3d at pages 681-682, 215 Cal.Rptr. 439, the court upheld against a vagueness challenge an ordinance requiring " '[sufficient] variety in the design of the structure and grounds to avoid monotony in the external appearance.' " In Harris v. City of Costa Mesa (1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 963, 973-975, 31 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, the court upheld the denial under a compatibility ordinance of a permit for a three-story apartment and garage in a residential neighborhood. The court noted that it was proper for the ordinance to address aesthetic issues, which included privacy, and for the city council to consider the concerns expressed by neighbors. (Ibid.) Harris cited Desmond v. County of Contra Costa (1993) 21 Cal.App.4th 330, 339, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 842, in which the court upheld the denial under a compatibility ordinance of a two-story rental unit in a residential neighborhood, where the board properly considered neighbors' aesthetic objections and opinions that the proposed structure was out of character for the neighborhood.

The instant ordinance requiring "respect [for] the...