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In 1981, San Francisco responded to the progressive loss of
residential hotel rooms, which contributed to a city-wide
affordable housing crisis, by enacting an ordinance that restricts
the ability of hotels to convert residential rooms to tourist
use. In San Remo Hotel v. San Francisco, the Supreme
Court will address a long-running regulatory takings challenge
to that ordinance, a challenge already considered and rejected
by the California courts. The National Association of Home
Builders and other development interests are urging the Supreme
Court to ignore those state court rulings.
As the case proceeds to oral argument, Community Rights Counsel
expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will finally put
an end to this baseless lawsuit by paying proper respect to
the rulings of the California Supreme Court, just as the federal
trial court and federal appeals court have done.
According to Timothy J. Dowling, Chief Counsel of Community
Rights Counsel:
"The national developers lobby calls litigation threats
a 'hammer to the head' of local officials that can be used
to extract favorable permit terms at the expense of neighboring
landowners and the public. Incredibly, they now seek two
hammers by asking the Supreme Court to ignore state court
rulings and allow everything to be re-litigated in federal
court. One of the oldest laws on the books prevents this
outrageous result."
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Community Rights Counsel is a nonprofit, public-interest
law firm in Washington, D.C. that helps local governments
defend against challenges to land-use controls and other community
protections. It filed an amicus brief in support of
San Francisco on behalf of California municipalities and the
American Planning Association. For further comment on the
case and the oral argument itself, contact Mr. Dowling at
202-296-6889.
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