Plaintiff did not exhaust administrative remedies when challenging the City’s approval of a homeowner’s development project on the ground that a Class 1 categorical exemption was inapplicable. Arcadians for Environmental...more
The City of Irvine violated CEQA by approving a development project based on an addendum to a program EIR containing insufficient information regarding the project’s greenhouse gas emissions and by relying on CEQA’s Class 32...more
The City of Thousand Oaks violated the Ralph M. Brown Act by adopting a CEQA exemption without having listed the exemption as an item on its agenda for at least 72 hours before the meeting. G.I. Industries v. City of Thousand...more
The Ninth Circuit held that statutory language defining the scope of operations of Twitchell Dam was sufficiently broad to potentially include releases of water to facilitate migration of Southern California Steelhead to the...more
A CEQA challenge to water allocations by the City of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power were barred by the statute of limitations because the allocations were under leases approved years earlier. County of Mono...more
An agency’s duty to preserve documents for inclusion in the record of proceedings under CEQA prevails over a local agency’s document retention and destruction policies. Golden Door Properties v. Superior Court (County of San...more
As we previously reported, on April 6, 2020, the California Judicial Council adopted an emergency rule suspending (or “tolling”) the running of statutes of limitations on civil claims during the state of emergency declared by...more
The court of appeal held that attorney’s fees under the private attorney general doctrine could not be recovered in a CEQA action in which plaintiff obtained a preliminary stay of the project but the project proponent...more
An EIR’s project description may identify alternative development schemes proposed for a single project, and the agency may approve a modified version of the project that incorporates elements of one of the alternatives...more
Land Use and Development Case Summaries (short form) -
1. PLANNING AND ZONING -
CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE V. CITY OF MORENO VALLEY,
26 Cal. App. 5th 689 (2018) -
Based on the language and...more
1/29/2019
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
Appeals ,
Building Permits ,
Building Standards ,
CA Supreme Court ,
California Coastal Commission ,
CEQA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Coastal Real Estate ,
Density Bonus ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Endangered Species ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Exemptions ,
Fully Protected Species ,
General Plan ,
Homeowners ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Impact Fees ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
Mitigated Negative Declaration ,
New Legislation ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Development ,
Referendums ,
Regulatory Takings ,
School Districts ,
State and Local Government ,
Subdivision Map Act ,
Sustainability ,
Traffic Impact Assessments ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Waters of the United States ,
Wetlands ,
Zoning Laws
A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Under the California Environmental Quality Act -
The California Supreme Court issued its only CEQA opinion of 2018 at the end of the year. In Sierra Club v. County of Fresno, the...more
1/14/2019
/ Air Quality Standards ,
Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Building Permits ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CEQA ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Excessive Noise ,
Exemptions ,
Final Judgment ,
General Plan ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Historic Preservation ,
Housing Developers ,
Mitigated Negative Declaration ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Oil & Gas ,
Railroads ,
Railways ,
Real Estate Market ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Res Judicata ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sierra Club v County of Fresno ,
Standard of Review ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Substantial Evidence Standard ,
Tenants ,
Traffic Impact Assessments ,
Trucking Industry ,
Urban Planning & Development
Broadly construing Government Code § 65009, which establishes a 90-day limitations period for claims under the Planning and Zoning Law, an appellate court held that approval of an agreement allowing removal of trees...more
In 2015 the California appellate courts continued to chart new ground as they grappled with some of CEQA’s most difficult and controversial questions. The Supreme Court of California led the way, issuing four opinions on...more
The California Supreme Court has announced that the oral argument in California Building Industry Association v. Bay Area Air Quality Management District will take place on October 7, 2015, in San Francisco. The CBIA case...more
This Supplement is intended for use in conjunction with Curtin’s California Land Use & Planning Law, Thirty-Fourth Edition (2014), authored by Perkins Coie attorneys Cecily Talbert Barclay and Matthew S. Gray. In lieu of...more
8/13/2015
/ Agricultural Land ,
Airports ,
AT&T ,
Berkeley Hillside v City of Berkeley ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Caltrans ,
Cell Phones ,
Cell Towers ,
Central Valley ,
CEQA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Delta Smelt ,
Elder Care ,
Endangered Species ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Establishment Clause ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Fiber Optic Cables ,
First Amendment ,
Fishing Industry ,
General Plan ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
High-Speed Rail ,
Historic Preservation ,
Indian Gaming Regulation Act ,
Municipalities ,
Nonconforming Use ,
Plastic Bag Bans ,
Sacramento Kings ,
San Francisco ,
SCOTUS ,
Smartphones ,
Subdivision Map Act ,
T-Mobile ,
T-Mobile South v City of Roswell ,
Takings Clause ,
Tribal Lands ,
Vesting ,
Wal-Mart ,
Water
The California State University system may not condition its funding of mitigation for off-site impacts of a campus expansion project on receipt of a legislative appropriation earmarked for that purpose, according to a...more
The California Supreme Court has issued its long-awaited decision in Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley, No. S201116 (March 2, 2015). The Court’s decision clears up some of the ambiguity that surrounded the...more
The California Supreme Court’s involvement in CEQA cases has been relatively limited since he statute’s enactment in 1970, with the court taking review of at most one or two appellate court decisions a year. The last two...more
1/6/2015
/ Bay Area Air Quality Management District ,
Building Permits ,
CEQA ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Exemptions ,
High-Speed Rail ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Judicial Review ,
Mitigation ,
Preemption ,
Public Projects ,
Railroads ,
Real Estate Development ,
Sierra Club
In This Issue:
- Project Approvals Triggering CEQA
..Chung v City of Monterey Park (2012) 210 CA4th 394
..Tuolumne Jobs and Small Business Alliance v Superior Court) 210 CA4th 1006 (petition for review pending,...more
1/3/2013
/ Ballot Measures ,
CEQA ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Exemptions ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Groundwater ,
Permits ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tolling ,
Wal-Mart