Herrington
Herrington v. County of Sonoma
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Leavy, J.
The owners and would-be developers of a tract of California real estate appeal from various rulings of the district court in a long-running dispute arising out of a local, government’s rejection of a proposed housing development. For the reasons which follow we affirm each of the district court’s rulings.
FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS
These consolidated appeals represent another round in a protracted legal contest involving John and David Herrington (“Her-ringtons”) and the County of Sonoma, California (“County”). In 1970 the Herringtons inherited a 540-acre farm (“Property”) near Sebastopol, California. Six years later they began work on a proposal to develop the Property for residential use. Over the course of the following three years the Her-ringtons, working with the County’s planning staff, scaled back their original plans for a 103-unit residential development to a final proposal for a 32-unit development.
*903 The Herringtons filed their 32-unit application with the County in 1979.- The County rejected the application as being inconsistent with both its General Plan 2 and a pending Special Plan for West Sebastopol. In 1980, after exhausting their administrative…