Baum Electric Co. v. City of Huntington Beach

Petitioner applied to the Building and Safety Department of the City of Huntington Beach for a permit to do electrical work in a housing tract “with the understanding that . . . aluminum non-metallic sheathed cable, be accepted for installation. ...” The director of building and safety (building director) denied the application citing his prior administrative order prohibiting the use of aluminum electrical conductors AWG sizes 6 and smaller in single family and duplex dwellings. Following unsuccessful appeals to the board of appeals and to the city council, petitioner sought a writ of mandate in the court below to compel issuance of the permit, alleging its application complied with all applicable statutes, ordinances and regulations and that the building director’s administrative order was invalid. Respondents answered denying that petitioner’s application complied with legal requirements for the issuance of a permit.

At the outset of the trial, the court exacted from the parties a stipulation that only two issues were before the court: (1) Whether the building director had “discretion” to impose restrictions on the size of aluminum electrical conductors which could be…