Pacifica Homeowners' Assn v. Wesley Palms Retirement Community

In Pacifica Homeowners' Assn v. Wesley Palms Retirement Community (1986) 178 Cal. App. 3d 1147, a homeowners' association sought to enjoin a neighboring community from allowing its trees to grow higher than the defendant's buildings. In that case, no local ordinance restricted tree height, but the plaintiff homeowners' deeds contained covenants protecting their views. The city had previously granted the defendant community a conditional use permit to operate a retirement hotel. The plaintiff alleged that one of the conditions of the use permit limited tree height, and that the condition was imposed for the benefit of protecting the views of the uphill landowners. The court found that "under these circumstances, the Association has met the standing requirements. It has sufficiently alleged it is a 'member of the community for whose particular welfare the ordinance was enacted' and it has suffered an injury different from or greater than that suffered by the general public." (178 Cal. App. 3d at p. 1153.)