Nolan

INTRODUCTION

In 2019 Robert Nolan applied for a conditional use permit from the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning to maintain a fence he built in 2006 that exceeded the height limit under applicable zoning ordinances.1 The zoning administrator, who was the initial decisionmaker, issued Nolan a permit subject to 11 terms and conditions. Rao Boppana, Nolan’s next-door neighbor, appealed from the zoning administrator’s decision to the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission, which overturned the zoning administrator’s decision. Nolan filed a petition for writ of administrative mandamus under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5,2 which the superior

“A conditional use permit authorizes a land use that, under a zoning ordinance, is allowed only when certain conditions are met.” (Friends of Spring Street v. Nevada City (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 1092, 1097, fn. 2.) Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 is “the state’s administrative mandamus provision which structures the procedure for judicial review of adjudicatory decisions rendered by administrative agencies.” (Topanga Assn. for a Scenic

2 court denied. Nolan appeals from the judgment, arguing that…