Capistrano Taxpayers Ass'n v. City of San Juan Capistrano

Opinion

BEDSWORTH, Acting P. J.

I. INTRODUCTION

Southern California is a “semi-desert with a desert heart.” Visionary engineers and scientists have done a remarkable job of making our home habitable, and too many of us south of the Tehachapis never give a thought to its remarkable reclamation. In his brilliant — if opinionated — classic Cadillac Desert, the late Marc Reisner laments how little appreciation there is of “how difficult it will be just to hang on to the beachhead they have made.”

In this case we deal with parties who have an acute appreciation of how tenuous the beachhead is, and how…