BODEGA BAY CONCERNED CITIZENS v. County of Sonoma

Real party in interest Bodega Bay Sunset Property (Sunset) and defendant County of Sonoma (county) appeal from a judgment and peremptory writ of mandate directing the county to set aside its decision extending the expiration date of the tentative subdivision map for a residential housing project that Sunset is developing in the town of Bodega Bay. Appellants contend the trial court improperly interpreted section 66452.6 of the Government Code to prohibit the county from approving Sunset’s timely filed application for an extension. We agree that section 66452.6 authorized the county to act on the application even after the tentative map had expired. Accordingly, we reverse.

Factual and Procedural History

Romancia is a residential development project located on approximately 27 acres in Bodega Bay, in Sonoma County. On December 6, 1994, the county adopted a resolution certifying the project’s environmental impact report (EIR) and conditionally approving a coastal permit and tentative map for the subdivision. Sunset thereupon began the work necessary to satisfy the conditions of the tentative approval. After a number of previously granted extensions, the tentative map was…