Desert Valleys Builders Assn. v. The City of Coachella CA4/1

Filed 1/27/26 Desert Valleys Builders Assn. v. The City of Coachella CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

DESERT VALLEYS BUILDERS D085376 ASSOCIATION,

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. RIC1900832) v.

THE CITY OF COACHELLA et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEALS from an order and judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Godofredo Magno, Judge. Vacated in part and remanded with instructions. Best Best & Krieger and Victor L. Wolf for Defendants and Appellants. McNeill Law Offices and Walter P. McNeill for Plaintiff and Appellant. The City of Coachella, the Coachella Water Authority, the Coachella Sanitary District, and the Mayor and City Counsel of the City of Coachella (collectively, Coachella) appeal and Desert Valleys Builders Association also appeals from the trial court’s judgment partially granting and partially denying the Association’s Petitions for Writs of Mandate, and Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief. Because we conclude the Association

failed to adequately evidence its standing, we vacate the judgment as to causes of action 2 through 9 and remand for the trial court to dismiss causes of action 2 through 9. I. In 2010, the Coachella City Counsel adopted Ordinance No. 1013, which established provisions for assessing and collecting development impact fees (DIF). (See Coachella City Code, ch. 4.45.) A. The Mitigation Fee Act regulates certain fees charged by local agencies. (Gov. Code, § 66000 et seq.) Various reporting obligations attach once a local agency imposes DIFs. Section 66006, subdivision (b)(1) imposes an annual reporting requirement mandating the local agency to make publicly available certain information for each fiscal year. The Act imposes a five-year reporting requirement as well. (§ 66001(d)(1).) A similar annual reporting requirement attaches to any “‘[c]apacity charge’” imposed by a local agency for sewage and water service. (§ 66013(b)(3) & (d).) Under section 66023(a)(1)(A), “a person may request an audit in order to determine . . . [¶] [w]hether any fee or charge levied by a local agency exceeds the amount reasonably necessary to cover the cost of any product, public facility . . . or service provided by the local agency.” If the local agency has failed to comply with the annual reporting requirements of section 66006(b) for three consecutive years, the local agency “shall pay the costs of the audit,” which “shall include each consecutive year the local agency did not comply with” the annual reporting requirement. (§ 66023(h)(1) & (2).)