A small town in western Stanislaus County was found to have issued development fees that violated state laws.
The Stanislaus County Superior Court ordered the City of Patterson to rescind its development fees.
The backstory: Two years ago, Patterson adopted development impact fees after approving the Keystone Ranch housing project.
- Those fees effectively brought the project to a halt leading to a lawsuit from the Keystone Corporation.
The big picture: Under the ruling, Patterson is now prohibited from collecting or enforcing the fees in question.
- Stanislaus County Judge Sonny Sandhu ruled that Patterson violated laws designed to ensure public notice and transparency. He also ruled that Patterson violated certain legal requirements mandated by the Constitution, the California Mitigation Fee Act and CEQA.
- “The haphazard way in which the nexus studies were prepared, amended, amended again and amended a third time combined with the lack of proper notice of the meetings at which the City Council adopted the relevant nexus studies was not designed to ensure transparency and public participation in government,” Sandhu wrote in his ruling. “In fact, it appears likely it ensured exactly the opposite.”
What they’re saying: Keystone President Pat Gavaghan celebrated the ruling, saying the decision reinforces the basic principle that cities must follow the law.
- “The City of Patterson ignored public transparency requirements and adopted fees without justification, despite being repeatedly warned that their actions were in violation of state laws,” Gavaghan. “The City Council ignored those requests that the city comply with the laws and provide public notice and information to the public before acting on the new fees. The City Council’s hasty actions have needlessly cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars on something that could have easily been fixed. The question is, after such a scathing ruling, will the city and its external law firm White Brenner finally follow the law and abide by the judge’s ruling?”
Zoom in: Former Patterson Mayor Pat Maisetti recently questioned the role that White Brenner has played in Patterson.
- Maisetti wrote a letter to the editor to Tracy Press last October urging Patterson to get new legal representation.
- White Brenner has billed Patterson nearly $2 million to litigate the case. The city’s 2025-2026 budget allocates $100,000 for general litigation. Patterson’s total budget is $117 million.
- Maisetti said White Brenner is giving Patterson bad legal advice, which leads to the city having to spend more money in legal fees.
- “Not only does the legal firm give bad advice, they make more money by going to court to address their bad advice,” Maisetti wrote.
