NJD, LTD. v. City of San Dimas

I. INTRODUCTION

NJD, Ltd., plaintiff, appeals from a judgment in favor of the defendants, the City of San Dimas (the city) and its city council. On appeal, plaintiff contends Judge Judith Ashmann-Gerst erroneously denied an in limine motion in connection with a facial regulatory takings challenge to amendments to the city’s municipal code which restricted construction in a hillside area. Plaintiff further argues that Judge David P. Yaffe incorrectly denied its mandate petition alleging violations of the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.). In the published portion of this opinion, we will discuss the issue resolved by Judge Ashmann-Gerst—the evidence she could consider in resolving plaintiff’s facial takings challenge to the constitutionality of the city’s hillside zoning restrictions. We find no prejudicial error or abuse of discretion. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

II. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff owns approximately 200 acres of land in the city’s northern foothills. The foothills area consists of nearly 3,000 acres of land, more than 900 of which are undeveloped and privately owned. The foothills are a sparsely populated area…