Orsi

Plaintiff real estate developers sought a writ of mandate to compel the City Council of the City of Salinas (City) to issue them a planned unit development (PUD) permit. The trial court denied their petition. On appeal, plaintiffs contend that the court erred in holding that their PUD permit was neither affirmatively approved by City on October 28, 1986, nor deemed approved by the mandatory provisions of the Permit Streamlining Act (the Act) (Gov. Code, § 65920 et seq.). We conclude that the City did not approve or disapprove plaintiffs’ project within the time limits set forth in the Act and that consequently the project was deemed approved by operation of law. We, therefore, reverse the judgment denying plaintiffs’ petition.

Facts

In 1979, City approved PUD permit 79-5 and tentative subdivision map 79-6 authorizing the development of 26.6 acres in northern Salinas. The plan called for development to occur in two phases, with a total of two hundred forty-eight units to be built. In 1980 City approved a final map for the first phase of the project (dealing with the westerly 17 acres of the tract). A total of 80 apartments, 10 duplexes and 68 single-family residences…