City of Del Mar v. City of San Diego
Court of Appeal for the Fourth District of California
133 Cal. App. 3d 401 (1982)
San Diego (defendant) approved a 12-years-in-planning community, North City West, projected to house 40,000 residents over nine development phases; San Diego presented evidence that regional population would grow with or without the project and that building it would actually reduce north county's population burden by 26,000 people compared to not building it. Del Mar (plaintiff) challenged the approval as an improper exercise of police power, arguing inadequate environmental mitigation and insufficient low-income housing; the trial court denied Del Mar's requested relief, and Del Mar appealed.
Whether the approval of a development in order to accommodate expected regional population growth is a proper use of a municipality's police power under land-use law.