AILANTO PROPERTIES, INC. v. City of Half Moon Bay

Under the Subdivision Map Act (Gov. Code, § 66410

et seq.), the life of a vesting tentative map does not include “any period of time during which a development moratorium, imposed after approval of the tentative map, is in existence. However, the length of the moratorium shall not exceed five years.” (§ 66452.6, subd. (b)(1).) Ailanto Properties, Inc. (Ailanto), a developer, challenges a decision of the superior court holding that under section 66452.6, subdivision (b)(1) the expiration of Ailanto’s vesting tentative map was tolled for only five years, though a series of development moratoria imposed by respondents City of Half Moon Bay and City Council of the City of Half Moon Bay (collectively, City) far exceeded this time period. The City, in turn, appeals from the superior court’s ruling that Ailanto’s delivery of a purported phased final map to the city engineer constituted an effective filing entitling Ailanto to a 36-month extension of its vesting tentative map under section 66452.6, subdivision (a)(1), despite the fact that the phased final map admittedly did not conform to the requirements of the vesting tentative map and was not in a form that could be approved…