California Land Use & Development Law Report
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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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July 11, 2016

Fish and Wildlife Service Agrees to Deadline for Monarch Butterfly Listing Decision

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to decide by June 30, 2019, whether to list the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act.

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July 11, 2016

How Developers Can Help Save the Monarch Butterfly (and Why They Should)

 The monarch butterfly is heading quickly towards extinction for a simple reason: it does not have enough food to eat on its migration path. [caption id="attachment_5171" align="aligncenter" width="666"] A Monarch Butterfly fee View blog post
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July 1, 2016

Court of Appeal Rejects Claim That Sustainable Communities Strategies May Rely on Statewide GHG Reduction Mandates

 The First District Court of Appeal has upheld the San Francisco Bay Area's Sustainable Communities Strategy.  The court rejected  the claim that such strategies  must account for the effects of statewide greenhouse gas reduction mandates. Bay Area Citizens v. View blog post
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July 1, 2016

Quieting title to groundwater rights does not necessarily require quantification of prescriptive losses

 The Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled that a judgment quieting title to overlying rights to groundwater in times of basin surplus does not require quantification of the specific amount of prescriptive rights that may previously have been established against each overlying landowner.  View blog post
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June 23, 2016

Indian Gaming Act and NEPA Irreconcilable, Ninth Circuit Rules

 The Ninth Circuit has held that the National Indian Gaming Commission's approval of a tribal gaming ordinance does not require review under the National Environmental Policy Act because there is an irreconcilable conflict between NEPA and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.  View blog post
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June 13, 2016

Fish and Wildlife Service Reissues 30-Year Eagle Take Rule

 As we previously reported, in August 2015, a U.S. District Court in San Francisco nullified the U.S. View blog post
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June 1, 2016

County Board May Not Take Actions That Implement Essential Feature of a Referended Ordinance

 When a referendum petition is presented against an ordinance and the board of supervisors decides to "entirely repeal the ordinance" rather than present it to the voters, the board must revoke the challenged ordinance in its entirety and may not take additional action that has the practical effect of implementing the essential feature of the ordinance. View blog post
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June 1, 2016

Wetlands Jurisdictional Determinations are Final Agency Actions Subject to Immediate Judicial Review

 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a wetlands jurisdictional determination by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water Act is a final agency action subject to judicial review.  Hawkes Co., Inc. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 578 U.S. View blog post
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May 27, 2016

Court Blocks Implementation of Level 3 School Fees

 A Sacramento Superior Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order barring the State Allocation Board from formally notifying the California Senate and Assembly that state funds for new school facility construction are no longer available. View blog post
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May 26, 2016

State Allocation Board Approves Level 3 Fees -- CBIA Seeks Injunction

 In a move that could result in doubling developer fees overnight in more than 200 school districts, the State Allocation Board last night voted to formally notify the California Senate and Assembly that state funds for new school facility construction are no longer available. View blog post
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May 25, 2016

Ordinance Prohibiting Mobile Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Was Not a “Project” Under CEQA

 A California Court of Appeal has held that a city ordinance prohibiting mobile medical marijuana dispensaries within city boundaries did not constitute a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act.  View blog post
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April 5, 2016

Wetland Jurisdictional Determinations: Reviewable or Not?

 Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. (Supreme Court Case No. 15-290), which poses the question of whether a determination by the Army Corps that a property contains "waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act is a final agency action that may be challenged in court. View blog post
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April 4, 2016

Ninth Circuit Rules Navy Satisfied NEPA in Considering Potential Terrorist Threat to San Diego Facility

 The Ninth Circuit has rejected a claim, under the National Environmental Policy Act, that the Navy did not adequately consider the environmental consequences of a potential terrorist threat to the redevelopment of a military complex near downtown San Diego.  The opinion upheld the Navy's Environmental Assessment for the complex, which concluded that the project would not create the potential View blog post
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March 30, 2016

Inadvertent Disclosure of Documents Under the Public Records Act Does Not Waive the Attorney-Client Privilege

The California Supreme Court has resolved a significant split among California appellate courts regarding whether inadvertent disclosure of documents in response to a Public Records Act request results in waiver of the attorney-client privilege pursuant to section 6254.5 of the Act.

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February 29, 2016

Assessing traffic impacts under CEQA

 In enacting CEQA, the Legislature established a policy to "provide the people of this state with clean air and water, enjoyment of aesthetic, natural, scenic and historical environmental qualities, and freedom from excessive noise." The Legislature did not mention freedom from intersection congestion. View blog post
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