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California Land Use & Development Law Report

California Land Use & Development Law Report offers insights into legal issues relating to development and use of land and federal, state and local permitting and approval processes.

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December 26, 2017

Court Rejects Claim That Clinic Protests Might Cause Significant Environmental Impacts

A court of appeal has ruled that opponents of a new Planned Parenthood clinic did not establish a fair argument that anti-clinic protests might cause significant environmental effects. Therefore, the City of South San Francisco did not err in finding the clinic project exempt from CEQA. Respect Life South San Francisco v. City of South San Francisco, 15 Cal. App.

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December 23, 2017

Petitioner’s Failure to Comply With Discovery Regarding its Standing to Sue Results in Dismissal of CEQA Case

A CEQA case challenging the City of Wildomar's approval of a Wal-Mart retail complex has been dismissed because the petitioner refused to comply with discovery requests regarding its standing to sue. Creed-21 v. City of Wildomar, 4th Dist. Court of Appeal Case No.E066367 (pub.

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December 21, 2017

Forest Service Properly Analyzed Potential Impacts of Forest Restoration Project on Pine Marten and Fisher Populations

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the U.S. Forest Service could validly rely on proxy approaches in determining whether a forest restoration project would adversely impact pine marten and fisher populations in the project area.

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November 22, 2017

Charter City Exempt from General Plan Consistency Requirement

A charter city is exempt from the statutory requirement that its specific plans and zoning ordinances be consistent with its general plan absent an express, unequivocal statement of intent in the city charter to adopt the consistency requirement.

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November 22, 2017

Failure to Identify Preferred Alternative Dooms EIR

A draft EIR that studies five very different project alternatives without identifying a preferred alternative violates CEQA by failing to provide the public with a stable project to review, the court of appeal held in

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November 21, 2017

Court May Seek Clarification from Agency Regarding Issue in Pending Litigation

The Sixth District Court of Appeal held that a trial court in a mandamus action had the inherent power to remand to the Board of Supervisors for clarification regarding an ambiguous general plan consistency finding.

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November 7, 2017

Ninth Circuit Court Paves the Way for Regulation of Stormwater Discharges Under RCRA

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that the anti-duplication provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) do not apply in the absence of a stormwater discharge permit issued under the Clean Water Act.

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October 5, 2017

State Authorizes Rental Inclusionary Housing Requirements

One of the 15 housing-related bills signed recently by Governor Brown could have especially significant implications for market-rate, residential rental projects in many jurisdictions, as the new legislation, AB 1505, will authorize cities and counties to adopt inclusionary housing requirements for rental units. AB 1505 takes effect January 1, 2018. Nearly a decade ago, the Court of Appeal

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October 3, 2017

Governor Signs Housing Legislation, Including Streamlining Bill

Governor Brown has signed 15 bills designed to address the State's severe shortage of affordable housing. Among its other effects, the legislation will (1) generate funds for affordable housing developments; (2) require cities and counties, as they approve new development, to maintain a supply of adequate housing sites for all levels of income; (3) tighten several provisions i

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September 14, 2017

Legislature Seeks To Prevent Local Voters From Enacting Many Types of Pro-Development Initiatives

The California Legislature just sent another "stop me before I vote again" bill to the Governor. Assembly Bill 890 proposes to limit severely the scope of voter-sponsored, pro-development land use initiatives. The Governor has until October 15th to

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August 29, 2017

College District's Approval of Agreement to Buy Land Did Not Trigger CEQA

A community college district's approval of an agreement to buy land for possible use as a new campus did not trigger CEQA review where the agreement required an EIR before the sale could be consummated and the District h

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August 2, 2017

City Cannot Compel State University to Collect and Remit City Taxes

UPDATE: The California Supreme Court has granted

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July 28, 2017

CEQA Not Preempted by Federal Rail Transportation Law for Projects Carried Out by State Agencies

The California Supreme Court has issued its decision in Friends of the Eel River v.

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July 25, 2017

Federal Courts Lack Jurisdiction to Hear Challenges to EPA Objections to State Water Pollution Discharge Permits

Federal courts of appeal do not have original jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act to hear a challenge to EPA's objection to a state's draft water pollution discharge permit, the Ninth Circuit held in Southern California Alliance of Publicly Owned Treatment Works v. EPA, 853 F.3d 1076 (9th Cir.

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July 20, 2017

NEPA Violations Did Not Undermine Validity of EIS for Nuclear Missile Maintenance Facility

The Ninth Circuit rejected challenges to the Navy's plans to construct a new nuclear missile maintenance facility.