Briggs

Introduction

Plaintiffs and appellants Rodney A. and Nancy Briggs own a home in the city of defendant and respondent City of Rolling Hills Estates. As a condition of permitting a substantial addition to plaintiffs’ house, the city required that an unapproved patio/deck which intruded on a neighbor’s privacy be removed. Plaintiffs did not seek judicial review of this condition by administrative mandamus (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) but instead brought this action for injunctive relief and damages under the federal Civil Rights Act ( 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ), alleging that the city’s neighborhood compatibility ordinance is void for vagueness and that the city wrongfully deprived plaintiffs of their constitutional right to use their property. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the city, holding that the ordinance is not on its face unconstitutionally vague and that plaintiffs’ other contentions are precluded by plaintiffs’ failure to challenge the city’s action directly by administrative mandamus. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiffs admitted virtually all of the facts asserted in defendant’s separate statement of undisputed facts. This case…