Honchariw

INTRODUCTION

Appellant Nicholas Honchariw filed a vesting tentative map application with the County of Stanislaus that proposed subdividing a 33.7-acre parcel into large residential lots. The Board of Supervisors of the County of Stanislaus (Board) disapproved the application. Honchariw sued the Board and won on the ground that it disapproved his “proposed housing development project” without making the written findings required by Government Code section 65589.5, subdivision (j). (Honchariw v. County of Stanislaus (2011) 200 Cal.App.4th 1066, 1070 [ 132 Cal.Rptr.3d 874 ].) Our 2011 decision ordered the superior court to issue a writ of mandate directing the Board to reconsider Honchariw’s application and make written findings where appropriate. The Board’s compliance with the writ resulted in its approval of Honchariw’s application.

This appeal concerns Honchariw’s motion for attorney fees under subdivision (k) of section 65589.5 (section 65589.5(k)), which states that the court “shall award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of suit to the plaintiff or petitioner who proposed the housing development . . . .” (Italics added.) The superior court concluded that the…