Morse

Morse and Seal appeal a judgment of dismissal after a demurrer to their complaint was sustained without leave to amend for failure to state a cause of action.

Plaintiffs’ complaint charged that the rezoning of the area in the vicinity of a county airport resulted in the inverse condemnation of their property by the county, that in purchasing their property they acted in reliance on a zoning ordinance which stated their land would be rezoned for subdivision purposes on request, that the individual defendants responsible for rezoning the property abused their discretion and acted negligently.

The sole issue on appeal is whether Morse and Seal stated a cause of action against the defendants in their complaint.

Plaintiffs’ land lies in an area of small farms about four miles from the City of Paso Robles and one mile from the Paso Robles airport operated by the County of San Luis Obispo. The land was zoned A-l at the time they bought it, a zoning which permits a density of one residential dwelling per acre. Plaintiffs submitted a tentative subdivision map which proposed R-l uses and requested the county planning commission to rezone their property R-l, a zoning under which the…