San Remo Hotel v. City of San Francisco

Success is sometimes said to be the father of failure, and this and like eases are before the courts because San Francisco’s success in attracting tourists has fathered a failure in an adequate stock of housing for the low income and disadvantaged population of the City. In 1990, the City and County of San Francisco (the “City”) revised its Hotel Conversion Ordinance (“HCO”) to increase restrictions on the use of hotel rooms for tourists and to increase the expense of converting a hotel room from residential to tourist use. This revised, ordinance has triggered several constitutional challenges based on the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. E.g., Golden Gate Hotel Ass’n. v. City and County of San Francisco, 18 F.3d 1482 (9th Cir.1994), on remand, 1994 WL 443666 (N.D.Cal. Aug.2, 1994), aff'd, 76 F.3d 386 (9th Cir.) (Table), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 117 S.Ct. 51 , 136 L.Ed.2d 15 (1996); Lambert v. City and County of San Francisco, 57 Cal.App.4th 1172 , 67 Cal.Rptr.2d 562 (1997), review granted, 71 Cal.Rptr.2d 215 , 950 P.2d 59 (Cal.1998). The present ease is the latest installment.

Due to the procedural complexities of this case and the state law issues that may moot the Takings…