Opinion ID: 1369329
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Proceedings to annex Eastview to the City.

Text: The City, ironically itself the product of litigation (see Curtis v. Board of Supervisors (1972) 7 Cal.3d 942 [104 Cal. Rptr. 297, 501 P.2d 537]), is a low density residential community on the Pacific Ocean in Los Angeles County. It has an area of about 12.3 square miles and a population of about 40,000. The unincorporated territory of Eastview adjoins the City to the east; it has an area of 840 acres and a population of 9,055 persons. Although also primarily a single family residential community, it is much more densely populated than the City. The addition of Eastview to the City would increase the number of registered voters in the City by about 20 percent and the assessed value of land by a lesser percentage  figures which are insufficient under section 35231 to require a vote by residents of the affected city. In November of 1978, a group of Eastview residents submitted an annexation petition to LAFCO. LAFCO undertook an environmental study and, finding no significant environmental impact, filed a negative declaration. Following a series of hearings, and after excluding a portion of Eastview from the annexation, LAFCO approved the proposal and directed the City to initiate annexation proceedings. On June 28, 1979, plaintiffs, a coalition of residents and homeowners associations in the City, filed suit against LAFCO and its executive officers. The suit sought a declaration that the provisions of the 1977 Act concerning annexations of inhabited territory were unconstitutional and an injunction restraining defendants from executing a certificate of completion. The following day the City, as required by section 35228, conducted a hearing to receive protests to the proposed annexation. Sufficient protests were filed to require the City to call an election limited to residents of the affected territory. In the ensuing election, the majority of voters approved the proposal. On January 16, 1980, the superior court issued its injunction barring LAFCO and its executive officer from executing or recording a certificate of completion. Defendants appealed.