EIR, which ultimately was submitted in September 1981.
In October 1981, after a year-long study, the recreation and parks commission and the planning commission decided to acquire only a portion of Edgehill Woods; the area to be acquired did not include plaintiff's lots.
In December 1981, the planning commission amended the master plan to allow construction projects on lots which were not to be acquired. On January 14, 1982, the planning commission rescinded its requirement of an EIR for plaintiff's proposed development.
The planning commission's rescission of the EIR requirement for plaintiff's proposed development was conditioned upon another initial study. Following the initial study, the planning department concluded an EIR was not required but that a negative declaration was indicated. In that regard, the planning department requested plaintiff to submit certaininformation in support of the negative declaration. However, plaintiff failed to submit all of the requested information until more than three years later in September 1985.
On October 18, 1985, the city issued a negative declaration, amended in November in response to public comments.
Meanwhile, plaintiff filed his lawsuit in 1982, long before the city's environmental review was completed in November 1985. Due to plaintiff's failure to submit the requested data, plaintiff's building permit application had been cancelled in 1983. On December 30, 1985, plaintiff filed a new application. At the time city's motion for summary judgment came on for hearing (Feb. 1986), plaintiff's new building permit application had not yet been acted upon.


*866 Discussion


I.
(1) It has long been established that inverse condemnation is not limited to a direct physical