Schafer v. City of LA
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The trial court granted a peremptory writ of mandate directing the City to set aside a decision by the City’s planning commission that upheld a building permit allowing the restriping of a parking lot owned by Triangle Center and to reinstate a decision by the
City’s zoning administrator that denied the permit. Triangle Center and the City appealed, raising a claim of equitable estoppel. The court concluded that, regardless of whether the elements of equitable estoppel are satisfied, the circumstances here do not justify an equitable estoppel against the City; this is not one of the rare and exceptional cases in which denying equitable estoppel would result in grave injustice; allowing Triangle Center to establish land use rights contrary to the zoning restrictions and despite its failure to comply with the normal land use approval process would adversely affect public policy and the public interest; and that adverse impact outweighs any unfairness to Triangle Center resulting from the failure to apply equitable estoppel. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
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