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Urban Planning & Development California Environmental Quality Act California

Miller Starr Regalia

Second District Rejects CEQA Challenges To LA City Planning Commission’s EIR Certification and Categorical Exemption Determination...

Miller Starr Regalia on

In an opinion filed on July 24, and later ordered published on August 19, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 4) affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying a writ petition challenging actions taken by the Los...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

CEQA News You Can Use - August 2024 - Volume 9, Issue 2

Welcome to “CEQA News You Can Use,” a quarterly production of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP’s Natural Resources lawyers. This publication provides quick, useful bites of CEQA news, which we hope can be a resource to...more

Allen Matkins

Sustainable Development and Land Use Update - 8.29.24

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Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed two new bills that aim to boost housing supply and further address the state’s homelessness crisis....more

Allen Matkins

Sustainable Development and Land Use Update 8.12.24

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On June 27, 2024, the California First District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of a writ petition challenging the City of Lafayette’s determination that a 12-unit residential condominium building qualified for the Class...more

Alston & Bird

Land Use Matters August 2024 – CEQA Appellate Decisions & Other Legal Developments

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City of Los Angeles - Increase to Planning Applications and Affordable Housing Linkage Fees - On July 1, 2024, the fee for planning and land use applications increased by 3.5% based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban...more

Perkins Coie

California Supreme Court Upholds EIR for UC Berkeley Housing Development

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The California Supreme Court held that under newly enacted Assembly Bill 1307, the environmental impact report prepared for UC Berkeley housing and longer-term development was not inadequate for failing to consider social...more

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

California Supreme Court Upholds UC Berkeley’s Long Range Development Plan and People’s Park Housing Project Approvals

The California Supreme Court recently upheld the Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) for the Long Range Development Plan (“LRDP”) for the University of California Berkeley (“UC Berkeley”) and a controversial housing project...more

Meyers Nave

CA Supreme Court Holds CEQA Does Not Cover Social Noise from Residential Projects, Clearing Way for UC Berkeley’s Housing Project...

Meyers Nave on

So-called “social noise”—i.e., noise created by human voices—is not an environmental impact required by the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) to be analyzed for residential projects, the California Supreme Court...more

Perkins Coie

Court Must Determine Revised EIR Is Adequate Before Discharging Writ Overturning Prior EIR

Perkins Coie on

An appellate court interpreted a writ that ordered an agency to vacate certification of an EIR in part and file a final return to the writ “upon certification of a revised EIR” to require an assessment of the adequacy of the...more

Allen Matkins

CEQA Reform on the Horizon?

Allen Matkins on

On May 8th, 2024, the Little Hoover Commission released its much-anticipated report, “CEQA: Targeted Reform for California’s Core Environmental Law” putting forth recommendations to improve the functioning of the California...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

CEQA News You Can Use, May 2024 - Volume 9, Issue 1

Welcome to “CEQA News You Can Use,” a quarterly production of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP’s Natural Resources lawyers. This publication provides quick, useful bites of CEQA news, which we hope can be a resource to...more

Miller Starr Regalia

Hilltop Group, Inc. v, County of San Diego: Throwing a Judicial Monkey Wrench into the Spin Cycle of Local Agency CEQA Laundering?

Miller Starr Regalia on

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has long required a full analysis of project's potential adverse effects on the environment. The environmental impact report (EIR)-known as the "heart of CEQA"-is intended to...more

Perkins Coie

Completion of Project Did Not Moot CEQA Claims, and County’s Failure to Exercise Jurisdiction Could Provide a Basis for a CEQA...

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The completion of a shooting range redevelopment project did not moot CEQA claims regarding the project even though the plaintiff had not sought an injunction against development or operation of the project. Moreover, the...more

Alston & Bird

Land Use Matters March 2024 – CEQA Appellate Decisions & Other Legal Developments

Alston & Bird on

City of Los Angeles - Proposed Citywide Adaptive Reuse Ordinance - In 1999, the city council adopted the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (ARO) that enabled the conversion of commercial buildings constructed in the downtown area in...more

Allen Matkins

Pending AB 2011 Amendments Hold Promise For Housing Developers

Allen Matkins on

On March 19, 2024, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks introduced new amendments to pending Assembly Bill (AB) 2243, which would amend AB 2011 (operative as of July 1, 2023). As explained in our prior legal alert, AB 2011 provides for...more

Allen Matkins

Developer Prevails in Builder's Remedy Lawsuit

Allen Matkins on

The Los Angeles Superior Court issued a highly anticipated ruling on March 4, 2024, addressing a Builder’s Remedy project denial by the City of La Cañada Flintridge. The decision confirms (i) that a local jurisdiction cannot...more

Perkins Coie

Court Overturns County’s Decision to Require an EIR For Lack of Substantial Evidence

Perkins Coie on

The County of San Diego planning staff found a project qualified for a CEQA exemption under Guideline 15183, which applies to projects consistent with a general plan for which an EIR had been prepared. On appeal, the Board...more

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

Senator Wiener Proposes Targeted CEQA Exemption for Downtown S.F. Projects

Recognizing that Downtown San Francisco is “struggling” post-pandemic, State Senator Scott Wiener has announced new legislation to exempt certain projects in the area from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

2023 CEQA Legislative Recap: Insignificant Effects, Housing Exemptions, and Streamlining

Several modest amendments to CEQA took effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Our CEQA News You Can Use team summarized a few of changes to keep in mind in the new year....more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

A Well-Informed Start to 2024: BBK’s Guidance for New Laws in California – Part Three

In Part Three of the New Law Guidance series from Best Best & Krieger LLP (BBK), we cover important new legislation for 2024 related to environmental law and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Below we provide...more

Downey Brand LLP

Downey Brand Compilation of Published CEQA Cases in 2023

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2023 served up roughly the same number of published appellate CEQA cases as 2022 with a defense win percentage of over 80 percent, which has been the case in many, if not all, of the past ten years. A prominent theme of...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Conditional Approval is Project Approval: Appellate Court Confirms CEQA Statute of Limitations Triggered by Tentative Map Approval...

Following California Supreme Court and its own case law precedent, the Second District, Division Five, has ruled in Guerrero et al. v. City of Los Angeles (Jan. 17, 2024) (Guerrero), certified for publication, that a CEQA...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

CEQA 2023 Legislative Update

The 2023 legislative cycle saw another mixed-bag of legislation dealing with CEQA “reform,” with a particular focus on streamlining affordable housing development. While many bills died during the process, a few key laws were...more

Downey Brand LLP

Annual Legislative Update: Important Land Use Laws Taking Effect in 2024

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The 2023 legislative session culminated in Governor Newsom signing dozens of land use bills. This post discusses the most important. The Legislature continued its multifaceted approach to addressing the housing crisis, with...more

Buchalter

24 Legislative Update: 56 New Laws Targeting Housing Development Become Effective in California

Buchalter on

The California Legislature’s laser focus on addressing the state housing crisis did not subside during the 2023 legislative session. While legislators proposed over 150 housing bills, only a fraction of those bills were...more

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