HOMES v. CITY of SIERRA MADRE

• Decision Date: 09 October 2008
• Docket Number: No. B195552.,B195552.
• Citation: 84 Cal.Rptr.3d 223,167 Cal.App.4th 531
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: STONEHOUSE HOMES, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. CITY OF SIERRA MADRE et al., Defendants and Respondents.

167 Cal.App.4th 531

84 Cal.Rptr.3d 223

STONEHOUSE HOMES, Plaintiff and Appellant v CITY OF SIERRA MADRE et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. B195552.

Court of Appeal, Second District Division 8.

Oct. 9, 2008.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger and Garrett L. Hanken, Los Angeles, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Colantuono & Levin, Sandra J. Levin and Holly O. Whatley, Los Angeles, for Defendants and Respondents.

FLIER, J.

Stonehouse Homes LLC (Stonehouse) appeals an order (judgment) of dismissal entered after the trial court sustained a demurrer to Stonehouse's complaint for declaratory relief with leave to amend, and Stonehouse declined to amend. Stonehouse seeks a declaration that resolution No. 06-024 (moratorium resolution) was enacted by respondents the City of Sierra Madre (City) and the Sierra Madre City Council (city council) in violation of Stonehouse's constitutional and statutory rights, and it is therefore facially invalid. Stonehouse contends its complaint adequately alleged an actual and present controversy with respondents, and there exists possible evidence to support declaratory relief in this case. We affirm, finding the case is not yet ripe.

FACTS

Respondent City is located in the steep hillsides of the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Pasadena. Stonehouse is a developer of real estate and the owner of about 103 acres of land on Stonehouse Road in Sierre Madre.

Part of Stonehouse's property lies within the Hillside Management Zone (HMZ). Stonehouse seeks to develop the southerly 25 acres of its property, a portion of which is located within the HMZ, and has in process vesting tentative tract map and conditional use permit applications through the City. The HMZ provisions impose specialized requirements for areas north of an established HMZ boundary line. HMZ provisions include a requirement for lot sizes under a formula based on the severity of the slope of the land.

On August 8, 2005, respondent city council adopted ordinance No. 1237 U (moratorium ordinance) as an urgencymeasure and later extended the ordinance on September 15, 2005. The moratorium ordinance covers an area that includes the entirety of Stonehouse's property and essentially requires property developers of land falling within the moratorium area to comply with HMZ provisions.

Implementing the moratorium ordinance, on November 22, 2005, the city council adopted resolution No. 05-086 (advisory committee resolution), which appointed an HMZ ad hoc committee (HMZ advisory committee) to study and provide preliminary input regarding potential revisions to the HMZ provisions, focusing on 11 areas of concern. Among other things, the resolution asked the HMZ advisory committee to consider a recommendation that lot sizes in the HMZ area be increased, noting “[l]imits as high as 1 house per acre might be entirely appropriate.” The resolution set a schedule for the HMZ revision process. The HMZ advisory committee was directed to hold twice monthly public sessions starting in January 2006, to issue its recommendations in June 2006 and to present final recommendations to the planning commission in November 2006. An “Environmental Impact Report” was to be initiated in December 2006, leading to review of any proposed revisions to the HMZ by the city council in July 2007.

Subsequently, on January 19, 2006, Stonehouse submitted two applications to the City for single family residential development of Stonehouse's property: (1) a vesting tentative tract map proposed to subdivide and develop about 25 acres of the southerly portion of the property into single family residential lots, with the remaining portion of the property to be deed-restricted to relinquish development rights, and (2) an application for a conditional use permit sought approval for development under HMZ provisions. Although most of the 25 acres proposed for development was located within a different zone, the applications treated the entire property as if it fell within the HMZ. Stonehouse prepared and submitted numerous technical reports required under the HMZ provisions.

On February 15, 2006, Stonehouse received a letter from the City stating its applications were not complete. The letter listed 16 items that Stonehouse needed to address, including a pre-filing meeting. About the time of this meeting, which took place on March 28, 2006, the City allegedly “clarified and narrowed” the requirements of the incomplete items, and it also allegedly agreed to “check off” immediately the incomplete items as Stonehouse submitted additional materials despite a statutory 30-day waiting period. Stonehouse purported to complete the incomplete items on April 17, 2006, and it confirmed the revised requirements by a letter dated April 18, 2006.

In the interim, on April 6, 2006, the City had published a notice in the local newspaper to initiate the preparation of an ordinance to amend the HMZ provisions. The notice stated the city council was considering a moratorium resolution directing the planning commission, in conjunction with the HMZ advisory committee and city staff, “to prepare an ordinance amending the zoning ordinance regarding minimum lot size and lot dimensions for new subdivisions in the [HMZ].” (Capitalization omitted.) The published noticespecified the contents of the ordinance to be prepared, such as density reduction standards. The published notice further stated, “The proposed ordinance will be brought back to the City Council along with the necessary environmental documentation pursuant to CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act (see Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) ] for review at a future date.”

On April 18, 2006, the city council held a hearing on the moratorium resolution, which passed on a vote of three to two.

On May 17, 2006, 30 days after Stonehouse submitted its additional materials, the City notified Stonehouse the additional materials were insufficient. In the notice of incompleteness, the City purported to require items that were in addition to or inconsistent with the clarifications and modifications agreed upon during the pre-filing meeting. Stonehouse's appeal to the city planning commission was denied.

Stonehouse filed the present action for declaratory relief on July 17, 2006. At the time Stonehouse filed its complaint, it was in the process of appealing the planning commission decision to the city council.

The complaint alleged an actual and present controversy existed between Stonehouse and respondents “concerning the legal rights and duties of the parties as they relate to the validity of [the moratorium resolution] and its effect upon the ordinances, policies, and standards that may lawfully be applied to [Stonehouse's] [a]pplications.” Stonehouse contended the moratorium resolution was enacted in violation of its constitutional and statutory rights of substantive and procedural due process of law, and its right to equal protection of the laws, and it is therefore invalid on its face. The resolution, Stonehouse further alleged, is “arbitrary, capricious, entirely lacking in evidentiary support, unlawfully and procedurally unfair, unfairly singles out Stonehouse ... to bear the burden of governmental action, and unfairly seeks to punish Stonehouse ... for other development activity in the City.” The complaint in addition claimed that the moratorium resolution “unduly constrains residential development and therefore violates California housing laws.”

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Respondents filed a general demurrer to the complaint. Among other things, respondents argued the complaint sought to have the court rule on the validity of a resolution that “enacts no legislation, imposes no obligation on Stonehouse or anyone else, but rather contains only notice of potential changes to the City's zoning regulations to be considered some time in thefuture.” Among other things, respondents argued the City has not amended any zoning regulations referenced in the resolution, and it could do so only after noticed hearings before both the planning commission and the city council, at which hearings Stonehouse would have the right to be heard.

In essence, respondents asserted, Stonehouse was seeking an advisory ruling because it was plain from the allegations of the complaint that the City had taken no action actually affecting Stonehouse beyond the mere fact of giving notice to the public of legislation it might pursue in the future.

The trial court sustained respondents' demurrer with leave to amend. ¹

The court ruled the complaint did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The court reasoned Stonehouse was contending the City was attempting to deprive Stonehouse of a safe harbor provision of the Subdivision Map Act ( Gov.Code, § 66474.2, subd. (a)). ² The complaint alleged the City proposed to employ the procedure set forth insection 66474.2, subdivision (b) to trump rights Stonehouse claims it would otherwise have under section 66474.2, subdivision (a). The court concluded the City's alleged acts appeared to be “precisely what the statute [i.e., § 66474.2] visualizes.”

The trial court further decided that: Stonehouse was seeking an advisory decision in a controversy not yet ripe; the complaint neither asserted a takings claim nor alleged ultimate facts showing that the moratorium resolution is facially invalid or in violation of Stonehouse's due process rights or state housing laws; and Stonehouse failed to allege ultimate facts showing its application for a tentative map is complete or that the City has determined the application is complete.

Stonehouse received leave from the trial court to amend its complaint to address the defects noted by the court. Stonehouse elected not to amend its complaint. The court therefore issued an order of dismissal of the action. This timely appeal followed.

CONTENTIONS

Stonehouse contends the demurrer should have been overruled...