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Using the same logic adopted by the New Jersey courts and argued in Napa, in-lieu fees <br /> have usually been based on the dollar subsidy required to provide the same number of <br /> inclusionary units, at the same income levels, as would otherwise be constructed on the site. (In <br /> practice, most in-lieu fees have been set at a significantly lower amount than is actually needed <br /> to provide the same number of units.15) While this author has long been concerned that allowing <br /> an in-lieu fee alternative invites the courts to treat the entire inclusionary program as a <br /> development exaction rather than as a land use control (communities do not collect in-lieu fees <br /> as an alternative to setbacks and height limits), the California Supreme Court's approval of an art <br /> in public places fee provided at least some support for the concept that an in-lieu fee alternative <br /> would not automatically convert a zoning requirement to an exaction. In Ehrlich v. City of <br /> Culver City16 ("Ehrlich'), the Court reviewed a Culver City ordinance that required every <br /> development to include a piece of art equal to 1 percent of the building valuation or pay an <br /> equivalent fee to the City. The Court held unanimously that the fee was not a development <br /> exaction but rather an "aesthetic condition" akin to traditional land-use regulations such as <br /> setbacks, parking, lighting, and landscaping. While it might be questionable whether the Court <br /> would apply the same analysis to an inclusionary ordinance that restricts prices and rents and has <br /> no aesthetic component, the combination of Napa and the Ehrlich gave practitioners a fair <br /> amount of confidence in the strategy. <br /> The inclusionary requirement and alternative in-lieu fee established in Los Angeles' <br /> Central City West Specific Plan and challenged in Palmer was adopted as a land use control: it <br /> was based on a study showing high rates of poverty, a need for affordable housing in the Specific <br /> 1S See Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California and California Coalition for Rural Housing, <br /> Inclusionary Housing in California: 30 Years of Innovation at 17 - 19(2003). <br /> 'h 12 Cal.4th 854, 885-86 (1996). The case is discussed in depth in Alan Seltzer's paper. <br /> 5 <br /> 990051\I\720372.3 <br /> 8/7/2009 <br />