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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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November 20, 2020

Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Measure Allowing Purchase of Offset Credits Fails to Comply With CEQA

While a number of court decisions have considered how CEQA lead agencies should assess the significance of a project's greenhouse gas emissions, few have examined mitigation measures for those impacts. In Golden Door Properties, LLC v. County of San Diego, 50 Cal. App.

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November 10, 2020

Completion of Construction Rendered CEQA Challenge Moot

The Third District Court of Appeal held that CEQA and permitting challenges to an expansion project were moot because defendants had completed construction and did not build the project in violation of any court orders or in bad faith. Parkford Owners for a Better Community v.

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November 9, 2020

Landowner’s Positive Efforts to Deter Trespassers Defeated Implied Public Dedication Claim

A private landowner prevailed over a community association's efforts to obtain a public recreational easement over trails because substantial evidence showed the landowner took bona fide steps to deter unauthorized users on the trails.

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October 25, 2020

Consideration of Cumulative Impacts Can Be Deferred to a Later EIS

A recent Ninth Circuit decision offers guidance on evaluating connected actions and cumulative impacts under NEPA. The court held that an agency can defer consideration of an action's cumulative impacts in an EIS when the agency makes clear that it intends to evaluate the cumulative impacts in a later EIS.

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October 5, 2020

Maximum State Density Bonus Increases for Primarily Market-Rate Housing Projects under AB 2345

The State Density Bonus Law, Government Code section 65915, provides the opportunity to develop additional market-rate housing and receive other benefits in exchange for including affordable units in a project. Governor Newsom recently signed legislation, Assembly Bill 2345, that makes several amendments to the Density Bonus Law, the most significant of which will increase how much additiona

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October 1, 2020

California Governor Issues Executive Order N-80-20 Regarding Commercial Evictions

Governor Gavin Newsom has issued Executive Order N-80-20, extending through March 31, 2021 Executive Order N-28-20, which allows local governments to impose commercial eviction moratoriums and restrictions for commercial tenants who are unable to pay their rent because of COVID-19.

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October 1, 2020

Logging Plan Not Categorically Excluded From Environmental Review Under NEPA

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a U.S. Forest Service plan for commercial logging of some 4,700 acres of fire-damaged Mendocino National Forest could not reasonably be interpreted as falling within a NEPA categorical exclusion for "road repair and maintenance." EPIC v Carlson, 968 F.3d 985 (9th Cir.

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September 30, 2020

BLM’s Lease of Lands in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve Using Programmatic-Level EIS Did Not Violate NEPA

The Ninth Circuit held that a 2012 Environmental Impact Statement that provided a programmatic-level analysis for management of lands in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve could also be used as the site-specific analysis for oil and gas lease sales.

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September 23, 2020

Violation of Zoning Ordinance Limiting Medical Marijuana Cultivation Did Not Justify Seizure of Dispensary’s Medical Marijuana

The Sixth District Court of Appeal held that a medical marijuana dispensary could recover its marijuana plants seized by law enforcement, finding that violation of the ordinance did not render medical marijuana plants "contraband" per se and subject to seizure. Granny Purps, Inc.

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September 17, 2020

County’s Blanket Classification of All Well Permits As Ministerial Under CEQA Was Improper

Where a county ordinance allowed for exercise of discretion in some circumstances regarding issuance of well construction permits, such permits could not categorically be classified as ministerial and hence exempt from CEQA review.

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September 14, 2020

County May Abandon Public Easement Rights to Prevent Unauthorized Use of Road

The Third Appellate District determined that Placer County met relevant statutory requirements when it partially abandoned public easement rights in a road originally intended to be used only for emergency access and public transit vehicles that residents of the area had been using as an unauthorized short cut between two neighboring residential subdivisions.

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September 2, 2020 Takings

Condemned Property Not Used Within Ten Years Must Be Offered for Sale to Original Owner

The City of Los Angeles was required to offer to sell condemned property back to its original owner because the property had not been used and the City Council did not adopt a resolution reauthorizing the public use until 19 days past the 10-year statutory deadline. Rutgard v. City of Los Angeles, No. B297655 (2nd Dist., July 30, 2020).

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August 14, 2020

Municipal Water Rates are Protected from Referendum Challenges

The California Supreme Court ruled that water rates and other local utility charges are considered "taxes" for the purpose of California Constitution Article II, Section 9 and therefore exempt from the referendum process.

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August 6, 2020

Agencies Must Preserve Emails For CEQA Record of Proceedings

An agency's duty to preserve documents for inclusion in the record of proceedings under CEQA prevails over a local agency's document retention and destruction policies. Golden Door Properties v.

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July 30, 2020

EPA Failed to Evaluate Potential Adverse Impact of Pesticide on Monarch Butterfly

The Ninth Circuit held that the EPA violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) by failing to assess adverse effects of a pesticide — Enlist Duo —on monarch butterfly habitat.