California Building Industry Assn. v. San Jose
California Building Industry Assn. v. San Jose
Opinion
This case implicates an important and unsettled issue under the Takings Clause. The city of San Jose, California, enacted a housing ordinance that compels all developers of new residential development projects with 20 or more units to reserve a minimum of 15 percent of for-sale units for low-income buyers. See San Jose Municipal Ordinance No. 28689, §§ 5.08.250(A), 5.08.400(A)(a) (2010). Those units, moreover, must be sold to these buyers at an "affordable housing cost"-a below-market price that cannot exceed 30 percent of these buyers' median income. §§ 5.08.105, 5.08.400(A)(a); see Cal. Health & Safety Code Ann. §§ 50052.5(b)(1)-(4) (West 2014). The ordinance requires these restrictions to remain in effect for 45 years. San Jose Municipal Ordinance No. 28689, § 5.08.600(B); Cal. Health & Safety Code Ann. § 33413(C). Petitioner, the California Building Industry Association, sued to enjoin the ordinance. A California state trial court enjoined the ordinance, but the Court of Appeal reversed, and the Supreme Court of California affirmed that decision.
Our precedents in
Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n,
For at least two decades, however, lower courts have divided over whether the
Nollan/Dolan
test applies in cases where the alleged taking arises from a legislatively imposed condition rather than an administrative one. See
Parking Assn. of Georgia, Inc. v. Atlanta,
I continue to doubt that "the existence of a taking should turn on the type of governmental entity responsible for the taking."
Parking Assn. of Georgia, supra,
at 1117-1118,
Yet this case does not present an opportunity to resolve the conflict. The City raises threshold questions about the timeliness of the petition for certiorari that might preclude us from reaching the Takings Clause question. Moreover, petitioner disclaimed any reliance on
Nollan
and
Dolan
in the proceedings below. Nor did the California Supreme Court's decision rest on the distinction (if any) between takings effectuated through administrative versus legislative action. See
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CALIFORNIA BUILDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION v. CITY OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, Et Al.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Relating-to