(a) Any party may protest the imposition of a commercial linkage fee imposed on a commercial development project by the authority pursuant to this article as follows:
(1) The party shall pay the total amount of commercial linkage fee required by the resolution enacted pursuant to Section 62571, or provide satisfactory evidence of arrangements to pay the commercial linkage fee when due, in accordance with Section 62574.
(2) Serving a written notice on the authority board and the legislative body of the relevant underlying land use jurisdiction that contains all of the following information:
(A) A statement that the required payment is tendered or will be tendered when due under protest.
(B) A statement informing the authority board and legislative body of the underlying land use jurisdiction of the factual elements of the dispute and the legal theory forming the basis for the protest.
(b) Compliance by any party with subdivision (a) shall not be the basis for an underlying land use jurisdiction to withhold approval of any map, plan, permit, zone change, license, or other form of permission, or concurrence, whether discretionary, ministerial, or otherwise, incident to, or necessary for, the commercial development project. This section does not limit the ability of an underlying land use jurisdiction to ensure compliance with all applicable provisions of law in determining whether to approve or disapprove a commercial development project.
(c) (1) A protest filed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be filed at the time of approval or conditional approval of the commercial development project or within 90 days after the date of the imposition of the commercial linkage fee to be imposed on a commercial development project.
(2) Any party who files a protest pursuant to subdivision (a) may file an action to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the imposition of the commercial linkage fee imposed on a commercial development project within 60 days after the delivery of the notice required by subdivision (a) of Section 62574. Thereafter, notwithstanding any other law, all persons shall be barred from any action or proceeding or any defense of invalidity or unreasonableness of the imposition. Any proceeding brought pursuant to this subdivision shall take precedence over all matters of the calendar of the court except criminal, probate, eminent domain, forcible entry, and unlawful detainer proceedings.
(d) (1) If the court grants a judgment to a plaintiff invalidating, as enacted, all or a portion of a resolution establishing, increasing, or imposing a commercial linkage fee, the court shall direct the authority to refund the unlawful portion of the payment, plus interest at an annual rate equal to the average rate accrued by the Pooled Money Investment Account during the time elapsed since the payment occurred, or to return the unlawful portion of the exaction imposed.
(2) If an action is filed within 120 days of the date at which a resolution to establish or modify a commercial linkage fee to be imposed on a commercial development project takes effect, the portion of the payment or exaction invalidated shall also be returned to any other person who, under protest pursuant to this section and under that invalid portion of that same resolution as enacted, tendered the payment or provided for or satisfied the exaction during the period from 90 days before the date of the filing of the action which invalidates the payment or exaction to the date of the entry of the judgment referenced in paragraph (1).
(e) The imposition of a commercial linkage fee occurs, for the purposes of this section, when it is imposed or levied on a specific commercial development project.
(Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 767, Sec. 1. (SB 440) Effective January 1, 2025.)