Harroman Co. v. Town of Tiburon

—The Town of Tiburón denied plaintiffs’ application for approval of the Marinero Estates master plan for development of their property. Plaintiffs sued, seeking a writ of administrative mandamus (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5), declaratory relief and damages for inverse condemnation. The trial court denied the petition for a peremptory writ, sustained respondents’ demurrer to the declaratory relief allegation in the complaint without leave to amend, and dismissed the “taking” causes of action. We affirm as to the writ and petition for declaratory relief, holding that when plaintiffs file a tentative subdivision map during revision of Tiburon’s general plan, the proposal must be evaluated against the draft general plan under consideration rather than the existing general plan.

In July 1988, plaintiffs, owners of an undeveloped parcel in Tiburón, filed an application for approval of a master plan to build 70 housing units on its 101-acre parcel. At that time, the town was in the process of revising its general plan adopted in 1974. The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) had granted Tiburón the first of two year-long extensions to complete the revisions of its…