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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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Land Development, birds eye view of open land

April 12, 2024 CEQA

Agricultural Conservation Easements Partially Mitigate the Loss of Agricultural Land

After deciding in a prior appeal in the same case that offsite agricultural conservation easements (ACEs) were not effective at reducing a project's conversion of agricultural land, the Fifth Appellate District held that ACEs can mitigate such impacts.

Buildings Stores

April 10, 2024 CEQA

Completion of Project Did Not Moot CEQA Claims, and County’s Failure to Exercise Jurisdiction Could Provide a Basis for a CEQA Claim

The completion of a shooting range redevelopment project did not moot CEQA claims regarding the project even though the plaintiff had not sought an injunction against development or operation of the project.

Land Construction

February 29, 2024 CEQA

Court Overturns County’s Decision to Require an EIR For Lack of Substantial Evidence

The County of San Diego planning staff found a project qualified for a CEQA exemption under Guideline 15183, which applies to projects consistent with a general plan for which an EIR had been prepared.

Real Estate and Housing Construction

January 28, 2024 CEQA

The First Project Approval Establishes the Appropriate Statute Of Limitations for CEQA Challenges, Even When the CEQA Document Is Later Re-Adopted

A court of appeal held a CEQA challenge time-barred because it was not commenced within 30 days after a Notice of Determination (NOD) was filed for approval of a subdivision map based upon a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND).

Gavel banging

November 28, 2023 Housing

Court Invalidates Ordinance Reducing Floor Area Ratio on Residential Lots

The Housing Crisis Act of 2019, which enacted Government Code section 66300, generally precludes a city from reducing the intensity of land use on a parcel where housing is allowed below what was allowed on January 1, 2018.

Housing Real Estate

November 28, 2023 Housing

Housing Accountability Act Provision That Prohibits an Agency From Requiring a Rezoning When Zoning Is Inconsistent with the General Plan Inapplicable Where City Found Zoning Consistent

A court rejected a developer's attempt to take advantage of provisions in the Housing Accountability Act that prohibit a City from requiring a rezoning when zoning is inconsistent with the General Plan.

image of the road cutting through the forest

November 14, 2023 CEQA

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

A court upheld an ordinance that restricted development standards in designated overlay zones to protect wildlife corridors, finding that it did not establish a "use" that would be subject to certain requirements of the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA).

Housing Buildings

October 20, 2023 CEQA

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 Hydro Power

September 22, 2023 CEQA

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

September 8, 2023 CEQA

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

August 10, 2023 CEQA

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

August 7, 2023 CEQA

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.

Housing Real Estate

July 20, 2023 CEQA

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

July 16, 2023 CEQA

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

July 7, 2023 CEQA

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.