Lance Jay Robbins Paloma Partnership v. City of Los Angeles CA4/3

INTRODUCTION

In December 2018, the City of Los Angeles (the City) adopted ordinance No. 185931 (the Short-term Rental Ordinance) which places restrictions on short-term rental units in the City. In June 2019, Lance Jay Robbins Paloma Partnership (Paloma) and Lance Robbins brought a petition for writ of mandate (the Petition) alleging the Short-term Rental Ordinance was illegal on its face within an area called the Venice coastal zone because the City had violated the California Coastal Act of 1976 (the Coastal Act) (Pub. Resources Code, § 3000 et seq.) by not first obtaining a coastal development permit (CDP). The issue presented by this appeal is whether the 90-day statute of limitations of Government Code section 65009, subdivision (c)(1) (section 65009(c)(1)) or the three-year statute of limitations of Code of Civil Procedure section 338, subdivision (a) (section 338(a)) governs the Petition. Under section 65009(c)(1)(B), an action to “attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the decision of a legislative body to adopt or amend a zoning ordinance” must be commenced and served within 90 days “after the legislative body’s decision” (§ 65009(c)(1). Code of Civil Procedure…