A California appeals court upheld a ruling dismissing a lawsuit charging Culver City council members with mishandling a church’s challenge of parking restrictions. The suit was rejected under the anti-SLAPP law. The lawsuit brought by church neighbors alleged the council violated the Brown Act by discussing parking without its being on the agenda and “…acting on the issue by allowing the church to proceed with an appeal of an earlier denial of a challenge to the restrictions.” The judge said the council had not illegally discussed the issue and said the neighbors were acting for themselves in defense of parking restrictions in their neighborhood so could not claim public-interest exception. (Metropolitan News-Enterprise, August 10, 2016, by Kenneth Ofgang)
The neighbors wanted to block the church from ending the parking restrictions, but the appeals court held that the neighbors were not likely to win the case on its merits. (Justia, August 10, 2016)