Garrick Development Co. v. Hayward Unified School District

Plaintiff developers of residential property appeal from an order, in consolidated cases, denying them a petition for writ of mandate by which they sought the return of school facilities fees they had paid under protest (Gov. Code, former §§ 65913.5 and 66008 (now § 66020)) as conditions to obtaining building permits. They urge that defendants Hayward Unified School District (HUSD or the district) and its governing board of education (the board) imposed the fees in violation of statutory requirements and constitutional limitations. We affirm.

Background

The fees in this case were imposed by the district under then-recent enabling legislation adding sections 53080 and 65995, which authorized imposing fees up to a maximum of $1.50 per square foot of new residential development. “Enacted in 1986, the two statutes authorize school districts to require their local city and county governments to impose school facilities fees as a condition to granting a building permit. (Stats. 1986, ch. 887.) Earlier legislation had merely allowed school districts to transmit findings to the city council or board of supervisors that could provide a legal basis for the local government itself…