Court OKs Condo Restrictions

Cities have the power to restrict conversion of apartments to condominiums in order to preserve the supply of rental housing, the state Supreme Court ruled today.

In a 5-2 decision, the court said a 1980 ordinance in the city of Oxnard, setting conversion standards so strict that they have amounted to a ban, did not violate the constitutional property rights of an apartment owner who was denied permission to convert to condominiums.