No Procedural Due Process For Disappointed Landowner

In Las Lomas Land Company v. City of Los Angeles (here), a city decided not to proceed with a project before completing environmental review. The developer sued, contending (among other things) that the city had violated its right to procedural due process under the California Constitution. The court rejected the claim. To state a claim for a procedural due process violation under the California Constitution, the plaintiff must allege the deprivation of a property interest or benefit that is conferred by statute. (in this the state clause is broader than the federal clause, which is limited to liberty and property interests.) There was no such statutory benefit in this case because the landowner had no statutory right to have the city continue to conduct environmental review of a project that it no longer wanted to complete.