1901 First St. Owner, LLC v. Tustin Unified Sch. Dist.

*1189 Plaintiff 1901 First Street Owner, LLC (First Street), appeals from a judgment which interpreted the meaning and application of Government Code section 65995, subdivision (b)(1), in a manner favorable to defendant Tustin Unified School District (the District). 1 First Street is the developer of an apartment complex. The underlying dispute arose after the City of Santa Ana (the City) had calculated the square footage of the development for purposes of assessing a school impact fee. The District disputed the City's method of calculating the assessable space and filed an administrative appeal. Before that appeal was resolved, the City revised its calculation in the District's favor, prompting First Street to file an administrative appeal. First *86 Street prevailed in its administrative appeal and subsequently filed the present lawsuit against the District, alleging various tort causes of action and seeking declaratory relief and a writ of mandate ordering the District to refund the excess school fees. The court dismissed the tort claims pursuant to an anti-SLAPP motion, which we affirmed in a separate appeal. ( 1901 First Street Owner, LLC v. Tustin Unified School Dist. (Nov.…