Latinos Unidos Del Valle De Napa Y Solano v. County of Napa

Latinos Unidos Del Valle de Napa y Solano (Latinos Unidos) 1 and individual plaintiffs Hector Olvera, Antonio Manzo, and Gabriel Deharo appeal from a judgment entered in favor of defendant County of Napa (the county) on their petition for a writ of mandate. Plaintiffs contend that the court erred in rejecting their contentions that (1) the county’s 2009 housing element does not substantially comply with the state housing element law (Gov. Code, 2 § 65580 et seq.); (2) the county’s density bonus ordinance conflicts with the state density bonus law (§ 65915); and (3) the county’s zoning ordinances discriminate against affordable housing and lower income persons in violation of section 65008 and against Latinos and people with disabilities in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act ( 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.), the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (§ 12900 et seq.) and section 65008. Although we agree with the trial court’s conclusions in most respects, in the published portion of this opinion we conclude that the county’s density bonus ordinance unlawfully conflicts with the state density bonus law. Accordingly, we shall reverse the judgment in that one respect…

I fully concur in the decision of the court. I write separately to express my view that a civil action and subsequent appeal, even with calendar preference, will rarely provide an efficacious remedy to address a deficiency in the general planning process.

Work began to update Napa County’s (the county) housing element in January 2008, and it was adopted by the board of supervisors that June. This lawsuit was filed in November 2009. The trial court issued its statement of decision and ruled against plaintiffs on February 1, 2012. The briefing was complete in this court at the end of February 2013. The housing element is to next be revised and updated by June 2015. Thus, we are well into the planning period for the next update.

Against this backdrop, we are to consider whether a challenged plan actually complies in substance with every reasonable objective of the general plan statute. (Camp v. Board of Supervisors (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 334, 348 [ 176 Cal.Rptr. 620 ].) If it does not, we may reject it and the county has 120 days to effectuate a compliant plan. (Gov. Code, § 65754.)

In a case like this one where the challengers point to no alternative that would readily fulfill the…