Cancun Homeowners Ass'n v. City of San Juan Capistrano

Cancún Homeowners Association, Inc., appeals a summary judgment granted in favor of the City of San Juan Capistrano (the City). Specifically, Cancún objects to the trial court’s conclusion that the City is immune from prosecution for negligence in the issuance of building and grading permits.

I

In 1986 Cancún filed a complaint for damages suffered by its condominium unit owners from the subsidence of the land underlying the property. Defendants included the developer, landscaper, plumbing company, and soil engineers. In a first amended complaint, Cancún added the City as a defendant, contending the building inspector shirked his mandatory duty to ensure all soils be compacted to 90 percent.

The complaint stated all defendants were involved in some manner with the construction, in 1980, of “dwelling structures and/or lots consisting of approximately forty (40) individual condominium units . . . .” After construction was completed, Cancún discovered the improvements were “defective in that the soil underlying said property, as designed and prepared, is inadequate to support the improvements constructed thereon, resulting in substantial settlement and subsidence, and…