A recent decision highlights the importance of strict compliance with the Mitigation Fee Act’s requirement that findings be made every five years concerning unexpended fees. The Sixth District Court of Appeal held that the...more
Los Angeles’ United to House LA Measure (Measure ULA), enacted by city voters in November 2022, implements a significant new transfer tax on high-value real estate transfers or sales throughout the city of Los Angeles....more
A hotel owner brought a lawsuit against a county transportation authority and a general contractor for nuisance and inverse condemnation alleging that the construction of an underground subway line disrupted the operation of...more
2/2/2023
/ Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Construction Project ,
County ,
Delays ,
General Contractors ,
Hotels ,
Inverse Condemnation ,
Property Owners ,
Public Nuisance ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Takings Clause ,
Transporation Authories
The First District Court of Appeal overturned the City of San Francisco’s decision that Saint Ignatius High School’s project to install four permanent 90-foot-tall athletic field lights was exempt from CEQA. Saint Ignatius...more
A claim of disparate impact based on gentrification in predominantly minority communities is not cognizable under the Fair Housing Act. Crenshaw Subway Coalition v. City of Los Angeles, 75 Cal.App.5th 917 (2022).
A...more
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed into law several bills intended to accelerate local approval of housing projects and increase housing production. This update summarizes the contents of three key bills:
◾...more
A City municipal transit agency did not violate equal protection, substantive due process or state anti-age discrimination laws when it disfavored some taxi cab medallion holders from accessing lucrative airport pickups...more
The state was required to reimburse municipalities for the cost of state-mandated trash receptacles at transit stops because local governments lacked authority under Proposition 218 to impose fees either on transit agencies...more
The Court of Appeal held that a landowner’s petition for “exclusion” under the Subdivision Map Act seeking orders declaring a parcel map void and restoring the historical lot lines was barred under the doctrine of laches....more
An anti-SLAPP motion was properly denied because the claims for damages arose from breach of contract and tort actions, not from any protected First Amendment activity. Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, LLC v City of...more
The Ninth Circuit held that a 2012 Environmental Impact Statement that provided a programmatic-level analysis for management of lands in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve could also be used as the site-specific analysis...more
10/1/2020
/ Alaska ,
Appeals ,
Bureau of Land Management ,
Department of the Interior ,
Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHA) ,
Mineral Leases ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petroleum ,
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) ,
Public Land
The Sixth District Court of Appeal held that a medical marijuana dispensary could recover its marijuana plants seized by law enforcement, finding that violation of the ordinance did not render medical marijuana plants...more
In the wake of the July 24 expiration of the 120-day moratorium on residential evictions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued an order (CDC order)...more
9/22/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eviction ,
Executive Orders ,
Grace Period ,
Landlords ,
Low Income Housing ,
Moratorium ,
Notice Requirements ,
Relief Measures ,
Rent ,
Rental Property ,
Residential Property Owners ,
State and Local Government ,
Tenants ,
Trump Administration
Shortly after the shelter-in-place orders first went into effect this spring, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order allowing, but not requiring, local governments to impose temporary limitations on...more
9/16/2020
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Eviction ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Newsom ,
Landlords ,
Moratorium ,
Relief Measures ,
Rent ,
Rental Property ,
State and Local Government ,
Tenants
An action for breach of a statutory development agreement should be reviewed as a breach-of-contract case, not as an administrative law proceeding in which the court gives deference to the City’s findings. Oakland Bulk &...more
The six Bay Area counties that led the way in requiring their citizens to shelter in place on March 16 and again on March 31—Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara—issued new orders on April...more
5/1/2020
/ Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Construction Workers ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Essential Workers ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Safety Precautions ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on April 22 suspending for a period of 60 days (1) the filing, posting, notice, and public access requirements related to certain notices under the California Environmental...more
The court of appeal rejected a claim that a Coastal Development Permit (“CDP”) should be invalidated because it was based on intentional misrepresentations, finding that even if accurate and complete information had been...more
On March 31, six Bay Area counties—Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara—jointly issued new shelter-in-place restrictions that expand, clarify, and extend certain shelter-in-place...more
On March 18, 2020, we authored an update regarding housing construction under the shelter-in-place orders jointly issued by six Bay Area counties—Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa...more
4/9/2020
/ City of Los Angeles ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Executive Orders ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hospitals ,
Local Ordinance ,
Municipalities ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Real Estate Development ,
San Francisco ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
State and Local Government ,
State of Emergency
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic, seven counties in California—Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz—issued orders requiring residents to shelter in place...more
On March 16, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic, seven counties – Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz – issued orders requiring residents to shelter...more
The statewide concerns underlying the affordable housing provisions of the Surplus Lands Act superseded municipal home rule authority on the same subject and hence required charter cities to comply with the affordable housing...more
1/10/2020
/ Affordable Housing ,
Housing Market ,
Local Ordinance ,
Low Income Housing ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Municipalities ,
Preemption ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Constitutions ,
Urban Planning & Development
The City of Sacramento did not violate constitutional law or implied-in-law zoning contract when it approved a project with characteristics that deviated from the City’s zoning ordinance. Sacramentans for Fair Planning v....more
A court could properly direct a city council to correct internal inconsistencies in its general plan resulting from adoption of an initiative. Denham, LLC v. City of Richmond, 41 Cal. App. 5th 340 (2019).
The Richmond City...more
1/10/2020
/ Appeals ,
City Councils ,
General Plan ,
Land Developers ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Local Ordinance ,
Petition for Writ of Mandate ,
Remedies ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws