California Land Use & Development Law Report
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.
Supreme Court Rules Legislatively Adopted Exactions Not Exempt From Nollan/Dolan Scrutiny
Agreement Purporting to Prevent City from Imposing New Impact Fees on Project Infringed Police Powers
The Court of Appeal held that a city-developer agreement that ostensibly precluded the City of Oakland from imposing any new impact fees on the project constituted an impermissible infringement of the City's police power. Discovery Builders Inc v City of Oakland, 92 Cal. App. 5th 799 (2023).
Court Orders Refund of All Unexpended Fees in Landmark Mitigation Fee Act Case
A recent case involving developer Charles Keenan and the City of Palo Alto highlights the importance of strict compliance with Mitigation Fee Act's requirement that findings be made every five years concerning unexpended fees.
Suit Challenging City’s Interpretation of 20-Year-Old Affordable Housing Agreement Was Timely
The Court of Appeal ruled that a suit concerning an affordable housing fee that plaintiff had agreed to pay two decades earlier was still timely because the 90-day limitations period under the Subdivision Map Act did not begin to run until a dispute arose over the interpretation of provisions in the affordable housing agreement. Schmeir v. City of Berkeley, 76 Cal. App.