§ 1094.9.Expedited Judicial Review of Housing Permit Denials; Related Court Procedures

This section gives housing development disputes the same kind of expedited track § 1094.8 built for expressive-conduct permits, reflecting how much delay can matter when a housing project is stalled. It applies when a petitioner gives the required notice, and it lets three different parties bring the action: the applicant for the housing permit, the Attorney General, or the Department of Housing and Community Development. The action takes the form of a petition for writ of mandate under § 1085 or § 1094.5, whichever fits the challenge.

Record preparation happens on an accelerated, concurrent basis. Once the applicant requests it, or the department or Attorney General gives notice, the local agency has to prepare the record of proceedings as its own proceedings unfold — including the decision, filings, notices, transcripts, staff reports, and the documents the agency relied on. The parties then meet and confer to certify the record within 15 days after the petition is served, with disputes resolved through a specially noticed motion. The local agency generally bears the cost of preparing the record, unless the petitioner elects to prepare it.

The filing deadline runs 90 days from whichever comes later among the decision's effective date, the permit denial's effective date, or another act disapproving the project, and the petition's title page must carry the same kind of prominent 18-point notice § 1094.8 requires. The court then has to set a hearing within 45 calendar days of filing, the record generally gets lodged at least 15 calendar days before the hearing, and the court's decision must follow within 30 calendar days of submission or 75 calendar days of filing, whichever comes first. As with § 1094.8, a presiding judge who anticipates missing these deadlines can request a temporary judicial assignment, and these actions get calendar preference over other civil cases.