Writ of Mandate Proceedings
Leone Alberts & Duus is experienced in representing municipalities in writ proceedings arising out of legislative acts and administrative decisions. We have also handled matters involving other laws that impact a city’s development powers, such as CEQA, the Mitigation Fee Act, the Map Act, the Quimby Act and other provisions of Planning and Zoning Law. Writ proceedings often involve complex and unsettled issues of law. In such cases, we pride ourselves on researching the law in an efficient and thorough manner to develop arguments that are not only legally and factually sound, but also highly persuasive.
We successfully defended a Bay Area city against a challenge to its park & recreation development fee ordinance. The petitioner contended that the city’s park inventory used to calculate its dedication standard violated a subsection of the Quimby Act that has yet to be interpreted by the courts. While ultimately we defeated the petition for a writ of mandate on statute of limitation grounds, we also developed a well reasoned and persuasive argument interpreting the subsection of the Quimby Act at issue. In doing so, we provided the city with a reasonable and rational basis for moving forward with its park fee ordinance as enacted.