Mola Development Corp. v. City of Seal Beach

Opinion

CROSBY, J.

Is the mere filing of a lawsuit for administrative mandamus the same as pursuing it to decision? Mola Development Corporation argues it is, but we disagree. Mola filed an action for administrative mandamus to overturn the City of Seal Beach’s quasi-judicial decision to disapprove a vesting tentative map, but voluntarily dismissed it on the eve of trial. That dismissal precludes, we will hold, a suit for damages for a regulatory taking.

There is an obvious and fundamental distinction between initiating mandamus and obtaining a judgment. The Supreme Court tells us “[a] final…