City of Palm Springs v. Living Desert Reserve

Opinion

McKINSTER, J.

J.Not infrequently, wealthy individuals, intending both to promote the common weal and to memorialize themselves, give property to a city on the condition that it be used in perpetuity for some specified purpose. With disturbing regularity, however, the city soon tires of using the donated property for the purpose to which it agreed when it accepted the gift, and instead seeks to convert the property to some other use.

In this case, for instance, the City of Palm Springs (City) built a golf course on 30 acres of donated property which it had accepted in 1986 on the express…