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. Subscribe 🡢
Class 7 CEQA Exemption Requires Only a Showing of Protection of a Natural Resource, Not the Entire Environment, and a Potential For Environmental Impacts Does Not Prevent Use of a CEQA Exemption
Court Upholds EIR for UCSF Parnassus Expansion Against Wide-Ranging CEQA Claims
Fair Argument Standard Did Not Apply to Claim Regarding Exception to CEQA's Historical Resources Categorical Exemption
Monterey Water Saga Continues: County’s Approval of Desalination Plant Upheld Against CEQA Challenges
Court Approves EIR’s Climate Change Analysis for Community Master Plan
Trial Court Cannot Retain Jurisdiction if Terms of Peremptory Writ of Mandate are Fully Satisfied
School Districts’ Challenge to EIR Based on Inadequate School-Facilities Funding was Speculative
Coastal Commission Has De Novo Authority Over Issuance of Coastal Development Permits
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).
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).
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.
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.
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).
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).
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.