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Plaintiffs-appellants Save El Toro Association, et al. (hereinafter Save El Toro) filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County against defiendants-respondents, seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminaiy injunction restraining construction of the district improvements, sale of the subdivided lots, and an order annulling approval of the maps and adoption of the resolutions creating the district. Save El Toro alleged that approval of the subdivision maps, award of the construction contract, and creation of the assessment district contract was unlawful in that any action by a city which restricts the use of open space land must be consistent with the city’s local open space plan and as the City of Morgan Hill has not adopted a legally sufficient open space plan, as mandated by Government Code section 65560 et seq., it is barred from taking such action.

A review of the applicable resolutions passed by the city shows that in November 1969, a general plan was adopted that contained a park and open space element. A housing element was added to this plan in March 1972. On April 4, 1973, the general plan was amended when the city’s open space plan was…