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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. Subscribe 🡢

Housing Buildings

Court Upholds EIR for UCSF Parnassus Expansion Against Wide-Ranging CEQA Claims

The First District Court of Appeal has approved an EIR analyzing a proposed fifty percent increase in density at the Parnassus campus of the University of California, San Francisco.

Water Coastal

Fair Argument Standard Did Not Apply to Claim Regarding Exception to CEQA's Historical Resources Categorical Exemption

This case addressed both application of CEQA's categorical exemption for renovation of historical resources and application of an exception to the exemption that turned on the question whether the project complied with Secretary of Interior standards regarding renovation of historic structures.

Water Hydro Power

Monterey Water Saga Continues: County’s Approval of Desalination Plant Upheld Against CEQA Challenges

A court of appeal has upheld Monterey County's approvals for a desalination plant, rejecting challengers' claims that uncertainty regarding the availability of source water for the plant necessitated additional CEQA review.

Real Estate Sector image, view of commercial area with new construction

Court Approves EIR’s Climate Change Analysis for Community Master Plan

The Third District Court of Appeal has held that Sacramento County's environmental impact report for a master planned community complied with CEQA's requirements for analysis of greenhouse gas emissions.

Gavel with scale

Trial Court Cannot Retain Jurisdiction if Terms of Peremptory Writ of Mandate are Fully Satisfied

The trial court improperly retained jurisdiction of a CEQA challenge after the City of San Diego filed a return to the peremptory writ of mandate confirming that it had rescinded the project approvals and thereby satisfied the terms of the writ.

Education

School Districts’ Challenge to EIR Based on Inadequate School-Facilities Funding was Speculative

The Court of Appeal rejected a challenge by two school districts to a specific plan EIR, finding the districts' claim that the EIR should have analyzed off-site impacts resulting from inadequate school facilities to be speculative.

Coastal Roads

Coastal Commission Has De Novo Authority Over Issuance of Coastal Development Permits

The court upheld the authority of the California Coastal Commission to decide appeals of coastal development permits under a de novo standard of review.

Housing Real Estate

County’s Claimed Failure to Comply with CEQA Was Not a Defense to Enforcement of Encroachment Laws

Property owners who acted illegally by blocking parking on a public street fronting their houses were not entitled to use the County's alleged noncompliance with CEQA as a defense to actions enforcing encroachment laws. Anderson v. County of Santa Barbara, 94 Cal.App.5th 554 (2023).

Water Hydro Power

EIR for Relicensing of Oroville Dam Adequately Evaluated Environmental Impacts

An environmental impact report need not discuss impacts that are too speculative in nature for proper evaluation or assess economic costs not linked to a physical change in the environment. County of Butte v. Dept. of Water Resources, 90 Cal.App.5th 147 (2023).

Modern Building

Compensatory Mitigation Infeasible for Loss of Historic Building

The Court of Appeal upheld the City's determination that compensatory mitigation for the loss of a historic building in the form of funding of other historic preservation was not feasible because there were no other buildings in the downtown areas with the same architectural style, period of significance, and purpose. Preservation Action Council of San Jose v.

Two Buildings

Lot Created on 1869 Map and Conveyed With Fewer Than Four Other Lots Was Lawfully Subdivided

The First District Court of Appeal held that a single deed conveying four or fewer contiguous lots can qualify for a presumption of legality under section 66412.6(a) of the Subdivision Map Act so long as the lots are separately described (including by reference to an antiquated subdivision map) and all other requirements of section 66412.6(a) are satisfied.

Corporate Building

CEQA In-Fill Exemption Inapplicable Where Project Conflicted with General Plan Affordable Housing Policies

The appellate court invalidated the City's reliance on CEQA's Class 32 in-fill exemption to approve construction of a hotel because the project included demolition of affordable housing and thereby conflicted with General Plan policies favoring preservation of such housing. United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles, 93 Cal.App.5th 1074 (2023).

Buildings Stores

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).

View of office building at night

San Diego’s Removal of Building Height Limit Improperly Relied Upon Earlier Program EIR for Community Plan

In Save Our Access v. City of San Diego, 92 Cal. App.

Construction Truck

CERCLA Contribution Action Not Barred by Claim Preclusion

Contribution claims brought under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) are not barred by prior environmental litigation if the property at issue and types of claims brought are distinct from previous claims. GP Vincent III v. Estate of Beard, No. 21-16555 (9th. Cir. May 17, 2023).