Pfeiffer v. City of La Mesa

• Decision Date: 15 April 1977
• Citation: 137 Cal.Rptr. 804,69 Cal.App.3d 74
• Parties: Harold W. PFEIFFER et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. The CITY OF LA MESA, etc., Defendant and Respondent. Civ. 14633.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 804

137 Cal.Rptr. 804

69 Cal.App.3d 74

Harold W. PFEIFFER et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. The CITY OF LA MESA, etc., Defendant and Respondent.

Civ. 14633.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1, California.

April 15, 1977.

Hearing Denied June 9, 1977.

Higgs, Fletcher & Mack by Joe N. Turner and Donald H. Glaser, San Diego, for plaintiffs and appellants.

Knutson, Tobin, Meyer & Shannon by Daniel J. Tobin, San Diego, for defendant and respondent.

AULT, Associate Justice. ^*

Assuming a municipality imposes invalid conditions in a building permit, this case presents the issue of whether a landowner can comply with a condition 'under protest,' construct the required improvement, and then maintain an action in inverse condemnation to recover his costs. We conclude, as did the trial judge, he cannot, and that the proper method to test the validity of conditions in a building permit is a proceeding in mandamus under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5.

Plaintiffs pfeiffer, the owners of improved real property located in the City of La Mesa, appeal from a judgment on the pleadings granted the defendant City in an action in inverse condemnation. The basis of their claim, as pleaded in their amended complaint, is that the City refused to issue a building permit for their property unless they complied with assertedly invalid conditions (the granting of an easement and the construction of a 54-inch storm drain across the property). Contending they were required by a lease agreement with the State of California to construct the additions and improvements covered in the permit without delay or suffer the possibility of cancellation of their lease, plaintiffs elected to comply with the imposed conditions 'under protest and without waiving their rights to demand compensation.' After granting the easement and constructing the storm drain, they brought this action against the City in inverse condemnation seeking to recover damages in the amount of $29,800, over $23,000 of which represents the cost of constructing the storm drain.

A judgment on the pleadings is reviewed in the same manner as a judgment of dismissal following the sustaining of a demurrer, and the only issue before this Court is whether the complaint states a cause of action (Gill v. Curtis Publishing Co., 38 Cal.2d 273, 275, 239 P.2d 630; Gabaldon v. United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, 35 Cal.App.3d 757, 759, 111 Cal.Rptr. 203). Consequently, for the purpose of resolving this issue of law, we must accept as true all the allegations of material fact contained in the amended complaint. Under well established rules, however, we are not bound to accept allegations which are purely conclusions of law.

By alleging that the easement and storm drain the permit required them to grant and construct were a portion of a public improvement consisting of a drainage system for the entire area, and not reasonably required to fulfill public needs emanating from their proposed improvements and use of their land, plaintiffs have sufficiently pled the invalidity of the conditions imposed by the permit (see, e.g., Scrutton v. County of Sacramento, 275 Cal.App.2d 412, 421, 79 Cal.Rptr. 872). It does not follow, however, that they have stated a cause of action in inverse condemnation.

In Selby Realty Co. v. City of San Buenaventura, 10 Cal.3d 110, 109 Cal.Rptr. 799, 514 P.2d 111, the city had denied the plaintiff's application for a building permit because it refused to dedicate some of its land for the extension of a street shown on the general plan previously adopted by both the city and the county. Without complying with the city's demand, the plaintiff had filed a multi-count complaint seeking declaratory relief, a traditional writ of mandate under Code of Civil Procedure section 1085 to compel issuance of the building permit, and damages on theories of civil conspiracy and inverse condemnation. The...