Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara

7 Cal. 4th 725, 29 Cal. Rptr. 2d 804, 872 P.2d 143 (1994)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
M
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara

California Supreme Court
7 Cal. 4th 725, 29 Cal. Rptr. 2d 804, 872 P.2d 143 (1994)

JL

Facts

Santa Barbara County and its Board of Supervisors (defendants) amended a zoning ordinance to require a minimum lot size for developing certain land parcels. The ordinance also required undersized parcels to be merged to satisfy density standards. Morehart and others (plaintiffs) applied for a permit to build a residence on an undersized parcel. The county determined that Morehart could have merged the parcel with adjoining parcels and denied the permit. Morehart sued the county, alleging five separate causes of action, including three claims based on preemption. The other two causes of action were for inverse condemnation and damages for violation of civil rights. The trial court ordered the preemption claims to be tried separately and ruled in favor of Morehart. The trial court then entered judgment on Morehart’s preemption claims and filed its statement of decision. The county appealed, and the Court of Appeal reversed. The California Supreme Court granted Morehart’s petition for review.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Lucas, C.J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 810,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 810,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Civil Procedure

Key Terms