SAVE OUR NTC, INC. v. City of San Diego

Save Our NTC, Inc. (SONTC) filed a petition for writ of mandamus and a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against the City of San Diego (the City), the California Coastal Commission (the Commission), McMillin-NTC, LLC and others. SONTC seeks to enforce a zoning ordinance created pursuant to a 1972 voter initiative known as Proposition D against property that was previously operated by the United States Navy as a naval training center but that has been transferred to the City for private development (the NTC property). The main question in this case is whether the application of Proposition D, which pursuant to the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution was inapplicable to federally owned property, became mandatory as to the NTC property once the federal government transferred the property to the City. We answer this question in the negative and affirm the judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

The City electorate’s adoption of Proposition D created a “coastal height limit overlay zone” to which a 30-foot height limitation on new construction applied. The initiative, which was codified as San Diego Municipal Code section 132.0505, defined…