Downtown Palo Alto Committee for Fair Assessment v. City Council

Opinion

NEWSOM, J.

Appellants are operators of businesses in the downtown area of the City of Palo Alto (hereafter sometimes the City) who are affected by an ordinance enacted by respondent creating a Downtown Business Improvement Area and permitting annual charges to be assessed against businesses in the designated improvement area. By way of a petition for writ of mandate filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, appellants challenged the validity of the ordinance on numerous grounds.

After a hearing at which documentary and testimonial evidence was introduced, the trial court found the…