Black Historical Society v. City of San Diego

The Black Historical Society (Society) filed a petition for a writ of mandate challenging the approval of a low-income housing development on a site with historical significance. However, the Society failed to obtain or file with the court a copy of the administrative record or an opening brief. Its failure was based on a belief it was not required to pay the costs of preparing the record despite statutory law and a court order to the contrary. Because the Society failed to obtain the record or file a brief and because there were time constraints for financing of the housing project, the court granted a motion to dismiss the Society’s petition in October 2004. We affirm.

FACTS

The City of San Diego (the City) issued a development permit to Wakeland Housing and Development (Wakeland) to construct low-income apartments along J Street in the East Village District of San Diego that, in part, had been designated a local Historic Resource Site. Wakeland had been allocated federal and California low-income-housing tax credits for the project conditioned on construction starting no later than November 15, 2004. If Wakeland missed the November 15, 2004 deadline, it would not…