Four member cities of the San Diego Association of Governments will appeal a San Diego Superior Court ruling dismissing their legal challenge to the Regional Housing Needs Allocation adopted by SANDAG on July 10, 2020.
The four cities — Coronado, Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove and Solana Beach — will challenge the Superior Court’s dismissal of the case on the basis that the cities properly filed appeals during SANDAG’s administrative process, but that their appeals were unfairly decided when SANDAG used a biased, weighted vote favoring a minority of jurisdictions.
SANDAG’s use of a weighted vote on the appeals is unprecedented in California law and allowed a minority of five of the 19 jurisdictions who are members of SANDAG to advance a RHNA plan that is both unrealistic and punitive to smaller jurisdictions throughout San Diego County.
When SANDAG heard the cities’ appeals, each board member was required by law to act as a judge and consider the appeals without bias or preference for a particular interest. SANDAG’s use of a weighted voting system instead of the “one jurisdiction, one vote” method is patently inconsistent with the legal requirement.
The Superior Court erroneously dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that SANDAG’s action was immune from judicial review, which has now led the four cities to appeal the ruling in an effort to protect the fairness of the appeal process for all jurisdictions. A fair process is an important cornerstone in the RHNA allocation process and protects the interests of all of the members of SANDAG.
Source: City of Coronado
