Article 1. Actions Involving Redevelopment Plans Or Bonds of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 24. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 1.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including Section 33501, an action may be brought to review the validity of the adoption or amendment of a redevelopment plan at any time within 90 days after the date of the adoption of the ordinance adopting or amending the plan, if the adoption of the ordinance occurred prior to January 1, 2011.
  (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including Section 33501, an action may be brought to review the validity of any findings or determinations by the agency or the legislative body at any time within 90 days after the date on which the agency or the legislative body made those findings or determinations, if the findings or determinations occurred prior to January 1, 2011.
  (c) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 33501, an action may be brought to review the validity of the adoption or amendment of a redevelopment plan at any time within two years after the date of the adoption of the ordinance adopting or amending the plan, if the adoption of the ordinance occurred after January 1, 2011.
  (d) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 33501, an action may be brought to review the validity of any findings or determinations by the agency or the legislative body at any time within two years after the date on which the agency or the legislative body made those findings or determinations, if the findings or determinations occurred after January 1, 2011.
  (e) The time limit for bringing an action under subdivision (c) or (d) shall be tolled with respect to the adoptions, findings, and determinations of any former redevelopment agency or its legislative body until the Department of Finance has issued a finding of completion to the successor agency of that former redevelopment agency pursuant to Section 34179.7. Subdivisions (c) and (d) shall not apply to any adoption, finding, or determination of any former redevelopment agency or its legislative body after the department has issued a finding of completion to the successor agency of that former redevelopment agency pursuant to Section 34179.7.

(a) An action may be brought pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 860) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure to determine the validity of bonds and the redevelopment plan to be financed or refinanced, in whole or in part, by the bonds, or to determine the validity of a redevelopment plan not financed by bonds, including without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the legality and validity of all proceedings theretofore taken for or in any way connected with the establishment of the agency, its authority to transact business and exercise its powers, the designation of the survey area, the selection of the project area, the formulation of the preliminary plan, the validity of the finding and determination that the project area is predominantly urbanized, and the validity of the adoption of the redevelopment plan, and also including the legality and validity of all proceedings theretofore taken and (as provided in the bond resolution) proposed to be taken for the authorization, issuance, sale, and delivery of the bonds, and for the payment of the principal thereof and interest thereon.
  (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), an action to determine the validity of a redevelopment plan, or amendment to a redevelopment plan that was adopted prior to January 1, 2011, may be brought within 90 days after the date of the adoption of the ordinance adopting or amending the plan.
  (c) Any action that is commenced on or after January 1, 2011, which is brought pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 860) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure to determine the validity or legality of any issue, document, or action described in subdivision (a), may be brought within two years after any triggering event that occurred after January 1, 2011. The time limit for bringing an action under this subdivision shall be tolled with respect to the validity or legality of any issue, document, or action described in subdivision (a) of any former redevelopment agency or its legislative body until the Department of Finance has issued a finding of completion to the successor agency of that former redevelopment agency pursuant to Section 34179.7. This subdivision shall not apply to any adoption, finding, or determination of any former redevelopment agency or its legislative body after the department has issued a finding of completion to the successor agency of that former redevelopment agency pursuant to Section 34179.7.
  (d) For the purposes of protecting the interests of the state, the Attorney General and the Department of Finance are interested persons pursuant to Section 863 of the Code of Civil Procedure in any action brought with respect to the validity of an ordinance adopting or amending a redevelopment plan pursuant to this section.
  (e) For purposes of contesting the inclusion in a project area of lands that are enforceably restricted, as that term is defined in Sections 422 and 422.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or lands that are in agricultural use, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 51201 of the Government Code, the Department of Conservation, the county agricultural commissioner, the county farm bureau, the California Farm Bureau Federation, and agricultural entities and general farm organizations that provide a written request for notice, are interested persons pursuant to Section 863 of the Code of Civil Procedure, in any action brought with respect to the validity of an ordinance adopting or amending a redevelopment plan pursuant to this section.

Notwithstanding Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 860) of Title 10 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the Attorney General may, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 387 of the Code of Civil Procedure, intervene as of right in an action specified in Section 33501 challenging the validity of any finding and determination that a project area is blighted. The Attorney General may seek permissive intervention pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 387 of the Code of Civil Procedure in any other action brought pursuant to Section 33501.

(a) An action shall not be brought pursuant to Section 33501 unless the alleged grounds for noncompliance with this division were presented to the agency or the legislative body orally or in writing by any person before the close of the public hearing required by this division.
  (b) A person shall not bring an action pursuant to Section 33501 unless a person objected to the decision of the agency or the legislative body before the close of the public hearing required by this division.
  (c) This section does not preclude any organization formed after the approval of a project from bringing an action pursuant to Section 33501 if a member of that organization has complied with subdivision (b).
  (d) This section does not apply to the Attorney General.
  (e) This section does not apply to any alleged grounds for noncompliance with this division for which there was no public hearing or other opportunity for members of the public to raise those objections orally or in writing before the decision by the agency or the legislative body, or if the agency or the legislative body failed to give the notice required by law.

If an action specified in Section 33501 challenging the validity of any finding and determination that the project area is blighted is filed in any court, each party filing any pleading or brief with the court in that proceeding shall serve, within three days of the filing with the court, a copy of that pleading or brief on the Attorney General. Relief, temporary or permanent, shall not be granted to a party unless that party files proof with the court showing that it has complied with this section. A court may, by court order, allow a party to serve the Attorney General after the three-day period, but only upon showing of good cause for not complying with the three-day notice requirement, and that late service will not prejudice the Attorney General's ability to review, and possibly participate in, the action.

In any judicial action specified in Section 33501 in which the validity of actions of the agency under Section 33334.2, 33334.3, or 33334.6 are in issue, the party initiating the judicial action or otherwise challenging the validity of those actions of the agency shall serve a copy of the complaint or answer alleging that invalidity upon the Director of Housing and Community Development within 10 days after filing that complaint or answer with the court. The court may render no judgment in the matter or provide other permanent or provisional relief to any party until proof of service of the Director of Housing and Community Development pursuant to this section has been submitted to the court. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to expand the scope of Section 33501.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an agency or legislative body shall not permit or require a property owner or a real party in interest to indemnify the agency or the legislative body against actions brought pursuant to Section 33501 to challenge the adoption or amendment of a redevelopment plan, as a condition of adopting or amending a redevelopment plan.

Any action brought in the superior court relating to the adoption or amendment of a redevelopment plan may be subject to a mediation proceeding conducted pursuant to Chapter 9.3 (commencing with Section 66030) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code.

The judgment shall determine the validity or invalidity, respectively, of the matters specified in Section 33501. The judgment shall be subject to being reopened under Section 473 or Section 473.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure or otherwise only within 90 days after the entry of the judgment and petitioner and any person who has appeared in the special proceeding shall have the right to move for a new trial under proper circumstances and upon appropriate grounds and to appeal from the judgment.

The judgment, if no appeal is taken, or if taken and the judgment is affirmed shall be forever binding and conclusive, as to all matters therein adjudicated or which at that time could have been adjudicated, against the agency and against all other parties and if the judgment determines that the agency is lawfully established, that the redevelopment plan is valid and effective, that the agency is authorized to issue such bonds and that such bonds when issued will be valid, the judgment shall permanently enjoin the institution by any person of any action or proceeding raising any issue as to which the judgment is binding and conclusive.

Other actions by obligees are authorized by Sections 33660 and 33661.

(a) The agency and legislative body shall not authorize or approve the settlement of any judicial action specified in Section 33501 that contests the validity of the adoption or amendment of a redevelopment plan if the settlement requires the expenditure of funds outside the project area unless the agency and the legislative body have first held a public hearing on the proposed settlement pursuant to this section.
  (b) Notice of the public hearing shall be published once a week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the community. Notice of the public hearing shall be posted in at least five prominent locations inside the project area for at least two weeks before the hearing. Notice of the hearing shall be mailed by first-class mail to the project area committee, if any, and to any other persons or organizations who have filed a written request for public notice.
  (c) Copies of the proposed settlement shall be available for public inspection and copying not later than the first date of publication of the public notice.