Boatworks, LLC v. City of Alameda

*294 The Mitigation Fee Act ( Gov. Code, § 66000 et seq. ) 1 authorizes local agencies to impose fees on a development project in order to defray the cost of public facilities needed to serve the growth caused by the project, as long as the fees are reasonably related to the burden caused by the development. ( §§ 66000, subd. (b), 66001 ; see Ehrlich v. City of Culver City (1996) 12 Cal.4th 854 , 864-865, 50 Cal.Rptr.2d 242 , 911 P.2d 429 ( Ehrlich );

*295 Shapell Industries, Inc. v. Governing Board (1991) 1 Cal.App.4th 218 , 234-235, 1 Cal.Rptr.2d 818 ( Shapell ).)

*164 In 2014, the City of Alameda adopted an ordinance establishing fees it would impose as a condition for approving future development. Boatworks brought this facial challenge to the ordinance, alleging that the proposed fees for park facilities lack a reasonable relationship to the burden of future development and hence violate the Mitigation Fee Act. 2 The trial court concluded the fees are excessive and constitute invalid exactions in three respects: by imposing on new residents the purported cost of acquiring land for parks, although the City does not need to buy new parkland; by including in its inventory of…