City of Lafayette v. East Bay Municipal Utility District

The East Bay Municipal Utility District (hereafter appellant or the District) is a municipal utilities district which provides water to customers in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, including the City of Lafayette (hereafter respondent or the City). The District owns property in the City on which it has operated a filter plant since 1929. The property, consisting of approximately 25 acres, is zoned single-family residential and designated in the City’s General Plan as “public use” property, which provides for nonresidential use with approval in the form of a land use permit. The essential function of the filter plant has been to treat raw water for delivery to the District’s customers. Existing facilities at the filter plant include filter beds, water storage tanks, equipment, sheds or yards, pumping plants, warehouses, chemical buildings and an office building.

The filter plant property lies within the “East Area,” one of the four geographic areas of operation into which the District is divided, and includes the City. In 1983, the District began the process of expanding and improving facilities in the East Area to accommodate population growth and an attendant…