Friends of Shingle Springs Interchange, Inc. v. County of El Dorado

Appellant Friends of Shingle Springs Interchange, Inc. (FSSI), filed a verified petition for writ of mandate (the petition) challenging the certification and approval by the County of El Dorado, through its board of supervisors (County), of a Circle K minimart and gas station complex off Highway 50 in Shingle Springs. At the time FSSI filed its petition, its corporate powers had been suspended for some two and a half years. Real party in interest Convenience Retailers, LLC (CRL), joined by the County (collectively, respondents) demurred to the petition, asserting that FSSI did not have the legal capacity to file the petition and that FSSI’s corporate powers were not revived until after the applicable statutes of limitations had run. The trial court sustained the demurrer without leave to amend and dismissed the petition.

On appeal, FSSI contends (1) the existence of unresolved factual disputes rendered dismissal of the petition by demurrer improper, (2) it was error to sustain the demurrer because FSSI substantially complied with the corporate suspension and revivor statutes prior to expiration of the relevant statutes of limitations, and (3) the trial court abused its…