33500-33505

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 33500-33505




33500.  (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.
   (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.



33501.  (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, may be brought within 90 days after the date of the adoption of
the ordinance adopting or amending the plan.
   (c) 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.
   (d) 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.


33501.1.  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.


33501.2.  (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.



33501.3.  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.



33501.5.  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.



33501.7.  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.



33501.9.  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.




33502.  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.



33503.  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.



33504.  Other actions by obligees are authorized by Sections 33660
and 33661.


33505.  (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.