Dunex

In this case, a municipality denied an application for a tentative subdivision map and coastal development permit which would convert the applicant’s mobilehome park from a rental subdivision to one in which individual residents owned the spaces where their respective mobile-homes were located. The municipality denied the application on multiple grounds, including its finding that the application did not comply with the municipality’s local coastal program (LCP) and a separate finding that the application was not a bona fide attempt to convert the park to individual ownership but was instead an attempt to avoid the impact of local rent control ordinances.

The applicant challenged the denial of its application by way of a petition for a writ of administrative mandate, which the trial court granted. The trial court found the municipality had no power to deny the application on the grounds it was inconsistent with policies embodied in the municipality’s LCP. The trial court also found the record did not support the municipality’s finding that the application was an attempt to avoid the impact of its rent control ordinances.

In light of the Supreme Court’s opinion in…