Featured Case

Contact: Timothy Sandefur or Meriem L. Hubbard

Status: 9th Circuit Oral argument held Thursday, May 7, 2009. Awaiting decision.

Summary: Craig and Robin Griswold own a house in an established residential area in Carlsbad, California, near San Diego.  In the spring of 2004, they applied for a building permit to add two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a family room—a total of 1,400 new square feet—to their house.  The City responded by requiring them to pay a fee of $115,000 and to sign a Neighborhood Improvement Agreement.  The City imposes these requirements whenever it estimates that a property owner’s improvements cost $75,000 or more.

The Neighborhood Improvement Agreement gives the City the permanent right to vote on the Griswolds’ behalf—and on behalf of any future owner of the property—if the City ever decides to create an assessment district, or to impose assessments on the property.  In other words, the City is requiring that the Griswolds give up their right to vote on property assessments as guaranteed by the California Constitution—as a condition of receiving a permit to remodel their home.

The District Court held that the case was brought both too late and too early.  The Court said that it was too late because the time to challenge the denial of the right to vote arose when the Griswolds learned they would be forced to choose between a huge fee and the right to vote; the action did not arise when the Griswolds realized they could not pay the fee and had to go with the only other option.  The lawsuit was filed too early because the City had not yet held an election to form an assessment district.  Therefore, the Court held that the Griswolds had not been deprived of their right to vote.