Blogs

tree in grassy meadow

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.

Subscribe

Placeholder image

April 5, 2018

Court Gives Green Light to Referendum of Ordinance Adopted to Conform Zoning With General Plan

A referendum requiring either the rejection of an enacted zoning ordinance or submission to the voters that would leave in place zoning inconsistent with a general plan does not violate Gov't Code Section 65860, according to the court's decision in Save Lafayette v. City of Lafayette, 20 Cal. App.

Placeholder image

April 4, 2018

Clean Water Act Permit May Be Required for Pollution Discharged Indirectly into Navigable Waters

A Clean Water Act permit is required for discharging wastewater from injection wells into groundwater where wastewater is "fairly traceable" to navigable waters, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Hawai'i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui, 881 F.3d 754 (9th Cir.

Placeholder image

April 4, 2018

Clean Water Act Requires Permit for Pollution Discharges from Oyster Hatchery’s Pipes

The Clean Water Act requires a permit to discharge pollutants through pipes, ditches, and channels from an oyster hatchery, even though the facility would not be subject to the Act's permitting requirements as a "concentrated aquatic animal production facility," the U.S.

Placeholder image

April 4, 2018

EPA Delays Applicability of Clean Water Rule While Challenges to Rule Proceed in District Courts

As reported in our prior Update, in a decision issued on January 22, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense, 138 S. Ct.

Placeholder image

April 2, 2018

City’s Bifurcated Procedure For Appealing Approval of Entitlements Separately From CEQA Determinations Upheld

The Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a mitigated negative declaration where the project opponent correctly appealed the approval of entitlements but failed to properly appeal the CEQA determination under the City of San Diego's bifurcated appeals process. Clews Land & Livestock, LLC v. City of San Diego, 19 Cal. App.

Placeholder image

March 30, 2018

Air Resources Board’s Regulatory Relief For Small Truck Fleets Violated CEQA

A court of appeal has held that the California Air Resources Board violated CEQA when it issued a "regulatory advisory" notifying small trucking operations that they need not meet ARB's regulatory deadline for retrofitting their truck engines, and that the regulation would soon be relaxed. John R. Lawson Rock & Oil, Inc. v. State Air Resources Board, 5th Dist. Case No. F074003 (Jan.

Placeholder image

March 28, 2018

Attorneys’ Fees Can Be Awarded to CEQA Litigants Hoping to Preserve Their Home Values

Successful petitioners under CEQA who are motivated to file suit, in part, by their private financial interests are not necessarily ineligible for an award of attorneys' fees under the public interest fee statute. Heron Bay Homeowners Association v. City of San Leandro, 19 Cal. App.

Placeholder image

March 28, 2018

Court Upholds Use of Small Facilities Exemption for Microcell DAS Project

In Aptos Residents Association v. County of Santa Cruz, the court of appeal upheld Santa Cruz County's use of a CEQA exemption to approve a distributed antenna system (often referred to as a DAS) for the provision of cell service. (6th Dist., No. H042854, Feb.

Placeholder image

March 27, 2018

EIR For Railyard Did Not Adequately Analyze Air Quality Impacts

Rejecting most challenges to the environmental impact report for a new railyard near the Port of Los Angeles, a court of appeal nevertheless held that the EIR must be decertified because it did not adequately address air quality impacts in the vicinity of the new yard. City of Long Beach v. City of Los Angeles, 19 Cal. App. 5th 465 (1st Dist.

Placeholder image

March 27, 2018

Size Limit on Retail Tenants Not Likely to Cause Urban Decay

A general plan policy that limited the size of retail tenants in certain areas of a city was not likely to cause urban decay and was not inconsistent with other general plan policies encouraging infill development, the court of appeal held in Visalia Retail, LP v. City of Visalia, 20 Cal. App.

Placeholder image

January 5, 2018 CEQA

CEQA YEAR IN REVIEW 2017

A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Under the California Environmental Quality Act In 2017, the California Supreme Court issued two decisions involving highly controversial questions of first impression. In the closely-watched Cleveland National Forest Foundation case, the court reversed the court of appeal's ruling that the EIR for SANDAG's region

Placeholder image

January 4, 2018

Court Defers to City’s Interpretation of the Building Code

A city's interpretation of the building code is entitled to significant deference in light of the city's expertise regarding land-use determinations. Harrington v. City of Davis, 16 Cal. App. 5th 420 (2017). The City of Davis approved a conditional use permit for a property owner to use a home in a residential neighborhood as professional office space for three therapists.

Placeholder image

January 3, 2018

Department of Interior Declares That Only Deliberate Acts Constitute Take of Migratory Birds

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of the Solicitor has issued Memorandum M-37050, dated December 22, 2017, which concludes that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act's prohibition on the "taking" or "killing" of migratory birds applies only to deliberate acts, such as hunting, intended to take a migratory bird.

Placeholder image

January 1, 2018

Voter-Approved Initiative to Limit Large Developments and Chain Stores Exceeded Initiative Power

In a case that illustrates the limits of use of voter-approved initiatives to limit development, the court of appeal invalidated an initiative passed by voters in the City of Malibu that sought to limit large developments and chain stores. The Park at Cross Creek v. City of Malibu, 12 Cal.App.5th 1196 (2017). The initiative at issue, Measure R, consisted of two components.

Placeholder image

December 30, 2017

“Urban Decay” Not Reasonably Foreseeable Consequence of Relocating Courts from Historic Downtown Courthouse

Citing the likelihood of repurposing Placerville's historic downtown courthouse and evidence nearby businesses were not dependent on it, the First District Court of Appeal held that "urban decay" was not a reasonably foreseeable consequence of moving judicial activities from downtown to a new building in the outskirts of the city. Placerville Historic Preservation League v.