Home Builders Assn. v. City of Napa

Home Builders Association of Northern California (HBA) appeals from a judgment entered after the trial court sustained a demurrer and dismissed its complaint asserting a facial challenge to an inclusionary zoning ordinance that was enacted by the City of Napa (City). HBA contends primarily that the trial court erroneously applied federal and California takings law. We disagree and will affirm the judgment.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

City, like many other localities in California, has a shortage of affordable housing. This shortage has negative consequences for all of City’s population, but causes particularly severe problems for those on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Manual laborers, some of whom work in the region’s wine or leisure industries, are forced to live in crowded, substandard housing. There is a large and growing population of homeless, including many families and teenagers. Workers from low-income families increasingly are forced to live greater distances from their places of employment, which causes increased traffic congestion and pollution.

City formed the Napa Affordable Housing Task Force to address these problems. The task force…