The KUSP Land Use Report #30: A San Luis Obispo Development Project

"Listen Live"

Gary Patton, Executive Director of LandWatch Monterey County, presents the following Land Use Report. The opinions expressed by Mr. Patton are not necessarily those of KUSP Radio, nor of any of our sponsors.

A local general plan is the community’s "constitution" for land use. It is not legally permissible for a City Council or Board of Supervisors to approve a development project that is inconsistent with the General Plan.

That sounds good, but how is this obligation enforced? If residents think that a development project has been approved in violation of the General Plan, they’ll have to go to court. In San Luis Obispo County, for instance, the Board of Supervisors recently approved a major project in the Nipomo area. Opponents think that this approval was inconsistent with the County’s General Plan. To find out if they’re right, the opponents will need to file a lawsuit.

Now, in a way, that’s "bad news." Local residents need to take action themselves, to uphold their land use "constitution." No one will do it for them. On the other hand, there is some "good news" here. If violations of the General Plan have occurred, the courts will reverse that project approval. The courts may also require the city or county to pay the attorney’s fees of the residents who file a successful lawsuit.

All this is to say that there is a very good reason to make sure that your local General Plan has clear, definite, and enforceable—not vague—policies. If clear policies are present, and local elected officials ignore them, the courts will enforce that land use "constitution" on behalf of the community.
For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

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