Barratt American, Inc. v. City of Rancho Cucamonga

Barratt American, Incorporated is a real estate developer of residential subdivisions. Barratt contends the City of Rancho Cucamonga (City) overcharges for building permit and plan review fees. In May 2002, Barratt filed a petition for writ of mandate and complaint against the City, challenging the fees, seeking a refund of $143,000 for fees paid on a 123-unit subdivision, and challenging Resolution 02-023, which established fee schedules in January 2002.

On statute of limitations and other grounds, the trial court sustained the City's demurrer without leave to amend. The standard of review is whether the trial court abused its discretion. [1] We hold Barratt's proper remedy, if any, is under Government Code section 66016. [2] But Barratt's claims are either time-barred or cannot be sustained under section 66016. We affirm the judgment.

The building permit fees charged by the City start at $25 for work valued up to $1,000 and end at $555 for work valued up to $100,000. Every additional $1,000 in value incurs a fee of $2.50. Plan review fees are a percentage of the building permit fees.

As general allegations, the complaint asserts that the City is required by Article…