Legal Question in Business Law in California

County Permit Problem

County approved a land use permit for a business. Cost was about $2500. All general requirements including setback areas, landscaping, irrigation, handicap facilities, parking, sewer, property & building inspections should have been completed. All are mandatory items from the county general plan. Any change of business type has to bring the property & building up to county code standards. The above business never materialized. I took over the existing lease 1 month after the permit was issued. Because I was changing to a different type of business, I had to reapply for another land use permit. It was only after making payment and starting the process again, did I find that the county requirements were never followed. The county is now making me do all of the above before a permit is issued. Do I have any recourse with the owner I'm leasing from or the county? I feel the county is double dipping less than 6 months after the first permit was issued. There would have been no way of finding out what needed to be done, until the county took my money and evaluated the new needs of the building & property. However the fact remains, that all general requirements are mandatory when applying for a new land use permit.


Asked on 10/10/06, 1:33 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Re: County Permit Problem

IF you can show some form of non-disclosure / fraud by the lessor, then maybe there is some recourse. If you simply failed to understand or investigate, different answer. You said you were changing 'use'. That implies you should have known changes could be made by the agency. IF you think you can show you were intentionally misled by the lessor, contact me.

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Answered on 10/10/06, 4:54 pm


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