Cleveland Nat. Forest Foundation v. County of San Diego
Annotate this CaseReal party in interest and respondent Genesee Properties, Inc. (Genesee) sought tentative map approval from respondent County of San Diego (the County) for a 24-lot subdivision on 1416.5 acres of land in San Diego County known as the Hoskings Ranch (the property). The property was within a County-designated agricultural preserve and a majority of it was subject to a Williamson Act contract requiring that the land be restricted to agricultural and compatible uses. The County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution conditionally approving the tentative map, finding in part that the subdivision "will not result in residential development not incidental to the commercial agricultural use of the land" pursuant to section 66474.4 of the Subdivision Map Act. Plaintiffs-appellants Cleveland National Forest Foundation and others (collectively, Cleveland) unsuccessfully petitioned for a writ of mandate and injunctive and declaratory relief, challenging the legality of the Board's approval. On appeal, Cleveland contended the County's approval of the tentative map violated section 66474.4 and undermined the Williamson Act by permitting a residential, rather than agricultural, subdivision on the property and giving the property developers a valuable residential entitlement while they were still receiving a taxpayer subsidy intended for those who maintain the land in agricultural or compatible nonurban uses. The County and Genesee jointly responded that Cleveland's failure to exhaust administrative remedies effectively negated the appeal, and that Cleveland improperly raised new arguments that it did not make in the trial court during the administrative process. They maintained the subdivision complied with the Map Act, Cleveland did not overcome the legal presumption that the project will sustain agricultural uses, and substantial evidence otherwise supported the Board's findings. Construing section 66474.4 in keeping with the land preservation goals and intent of the Williamson Act, whose principles the Legislature incorporated into that section, the Court of Appeal concluded the Board's finding was not supported by substantial evidence in light of the whole record. As a result, the County's conditional approval of the proposed tentative map did not comply with the Map Act, and constituted an abuse of discretion. The judgment was reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings.
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