Opinion ID: 1351609
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: remedy for inconsistencies

Text: Both the trial court and the Court of Appeal concluded that Measure H is inconsistent with the general plan in effect when Measure H was passed because that general plan was growth oriented and anticipated continued development of housing, commercial and administrative/professional uses. The plan expressly recognized that the anticipated development would lead to traffic congestion which the residents would have to accept. Walnut Creek does not dispute this characterization of the general plan. The city argued below that Measure H was consistent with other provisions of the general plan. (8a) Before this court it argues only that consistency should be determined by comparison with its newly adopted general plan incorporating Measure H, and that, in any event, a compliance decree rather than invalidation of Measure H is the appropriate remedy when the inconsistencies involve policy. Neither argument has merit in light of our conclusion that Measure H is an ordinance in the nature of a zoning ordinance. A zoning ordinance that conflicts with a general plan is invalid at the time it is passed. ( deBottari v. City Council, supra, 171 Cal. App.3d 1204, 1212; Sierra Club v. Board of Supervisors, supra, 126 Cal. App.3d 698, 704.) The court does not invalidate the ordinance. It does no more than determine the existence of the conflict. It is the preemptive effect of the controlling state statute, the Planning and Zoning Law, which invalidates the ordinance. A void statute or ordinance cannot be given effect. This self-evident proposition is necessary if a governmental entity and its citizens are to know how to govern their affairs. Thus, persons who seek to develop their land are entitled to know what the applicable law is at the time they apply for a building permit. City officials must be able to act pursuant to the law, and courts must be able to ascertain a law's validity and to enforce it. The validity of the ordinance under which permits are granted, or pursuant to which development is regulated, may not turn on possible future action by the legislative body or electorate. An amendment to an invalid statute may itself constitute a valid enactment operative from its effective date (see Brown v. Superior Court (1982) 33 Cal.3d 242, 252 [188 Cal. Rptr. 425, 655 P.2d 1260]; County of Los Angeles v. Jones (1936) 6 Cal.2d 695, 708 [59 P.2d 489]), but neither such amendment nor an amendment of the general plan revives an invalid zoning ordinance. (Cf. Gov. Code, § 9611; Corning Hospital Dist. v. Superior Court (1962) 57 Cal.2d 488, 494 [20 Cal. Rptr. 621, 370 P.2d 325] [revival after temporary suspension of law].) Amendments to the Walnut Creek general plan approved subsequent to the enactment of Measure H cannot save the initiative as a zoning ordinance. Only the general plan in effect at the time the ordinance is adopted is relevant in determining inconsistency. Since Measure H was inconsistent with the plan in effect when Measure H was adopted, the measure is invalid. [11] Walnut Creek's suggestion, that it is not necessary that an inconsistent zoning ordinance or land use regulation be invalidated, is based on the statutory authorization in subdivision (b) of section 65860 for actions to enforce compliance with the mandate of subdivision (a) of that section that zoning ordinances be consistent with the general plan. The argument rests in part on subdivision (c), which provides: [i]n the event that a zoning ordinance becomes inconsistent with a general plan by reason of amendment to such a plan, or to any element of such a plan, such zoning ordinance shall be amended within a reasonable time so that it is consistent with the general plan as amended. (§ 65860, subd. (c).) In Building Industry Assn. v. Superior Court (1989) 211 Cal. App.3d 277, 297 [259 Cal. Rptr. 325], the Court of Appeal stated in dictum that application of section 65860 to a municipal ordinance limiting growth by a numerical formula, an ordinance which was inconsistent with the city's general plan, could result in a compliance decree rather than a finding of invalidity. The court distinguished Sierra Club v. Board of Supervisors, supra, 126 Cal. App.3d 698, as involving an internally inconsistent general plan with which no zoning ordinance could be consistent. We do not agree. Subdivision (c) of section 65860 does not permit a court to rescue a zoning ordinance that is invalid ab initio. As its language makes clear, the subdivision applies only to zoning ordinances which were valid when enacted, but are not consistent with a subsequently enacted or amended general plan. It mandates that such ordinances be conformed to the new general plan, but does not permit adoption of ordinances which are inconsistent with the general plan. (9a) The obvious purpose of subdivision (c) is to ensure an orderly process of bringing the regulatory law into conformity with a new or amended general plan, not to permit development that is inconsistent with that plan. (8b) We also reject the suggestion that by authorizing suits to enforce compliance with the consistency requirement of subdivision (a) of section 65860, subdivision (b) creates a procedure by which ordinances forbidden by subdivision (a) may be validated. Subdivision (a) provides in its entirety: County or city zoning ordinances shall be consistent with the general plan of the county or a city by January 1, 1974. A zoning ordinance shall be consistent with a city or county general plan only if: [¶] (i) The city or county has officially adopted such a plan, and [¶] (ii) The various land uses authorized by the ordinance are compatible with the objectives, policies, general land uses, and programs specified in such a plan. (9b) Again, it is apparent that the legislative purpose underlying subdivision (b) of section 65860 is to permit actions to compel local governments to bring their existing zoning ordinances into conformity with their general plan, not to validate ordinances that were inconsistent with the general plan when adopted. [12] (8c) The construction proposed by Walnut Creek is at odds with the Legislature's concern that general plans provide a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of a city (§ 65300), a plan whose mandatory elements may be amended no more frequently than four times a year. (§ 65358.) Conforming a general plan to an inconsistent growth-control ordinance might also be inconsistent with the legislative policy that each city and each county provide in the general plan for its appropriate share of the regional need for housing. (§ 65302.8.) Under that section, amendment of a general plan to limit the number of housing units to be built annually must be accompanied by findings that justify reduction of housing opportunities in the region. This requirement may not be avoided by the adoption of a growth control ordinance through the initiative process. A city may not adopt ordinances and regulations which conflict with the state Planning and Zoning Law. (Art. XI, § 7; Hurst v. City of Burlingame (1929) 207 Cal. 134, 140 [277 P. 308], overruled on other grounds in Associated Home Builders etc., Inc. v. City of Livermore, supra, 18 Cal.3d 582, 596.) To the extent that Building Industry Assn. v. Superior Court, supra, 211 Cal. App.3d 277, suggests otherwise, it is disapproved. The trial court properly ordered issuance of a writ of mandate to compel invalidation of Measure H. The judgment of the Court of Appeal is reversed. The matter is remanded to the Court of Appeal with directions to modify the judgment of the trial court to order dismissal of the fourth and fifth causes of action and to affirm the judgment as amended.