Court House Plaza Co. v. City of Palo Alto

Court House Plaza Company appeals from a judgment denying its petition for a writ of mandamus directing respondent City of Palo Alto to issue it use and building permits and an extension of time for the construction of parking facilities for a six-story addition to its existing four-story building.

The chronology of this case spans some 12 years beginning with the adoption by the City of Palo Alto of ordinance No. 2224 on December 28, 1964, establishing a planned community zoning district. By its terms appellant was authorized to construct a building in two phases. The first phase (hereafter Phase 1) required construction of the first four stories on parcel A and the first two levels of a parking structure on parcel C to begin by January 28, 1967. In the second phase (hereafter Phase 2) construction was to begin by October 31, 1976, on six additional stories of the building and on additional levels of the parking garage. Only the four-story building has been completed.

In August 1965 the city was informed that another part of appellant’s property was to be condemned by the County of Santa Clara for a county road project (Page Mill-Birch Street realignment) which would…