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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 🡢

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Case Properly Dismissed for Failure to Join Real Party in Interest Even Though Agency Did Not Provide Plaintiff with Corrected Notice of Determination

The court of appeal affirmed the trial court judgment dismissing the plaintiff's CEQA action on grounds that the plaintiff failed to join an indispensable real party in interest within thirty days after the city filed a revised notice of determination to correct an earlier notice of determination which misidentified the project applicant -- even though the plaintiff was not notified the noti

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Claim Regarding Validity of 1974 Subdivision Map Barred Under Laches Doctrine

The Court of Appeal held that a landowner's petition for "exclusion" under the Subdivision Map Act seeking orders declaring a parcel map void and restoring the historical lot lines was barred under the doctrine of laches. Decea v. City. of Ventura, 59 Cal. App. 5th 1097 (2021). Decea bought a house in the Lake Sherwood community of Ventura County in 2007.

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Court of Appeal Upholds Water Boards' Analysis of Economic Considerations Regarding Los Angeles County MS4 Permit

A regional water board is not required to estimate the compliance costs for individual permittees before issuing a permit. City of Duarte v. State Water Resources Control Board, 60 Cal. App.

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Lease of City Property Did Not Subject Nonprofit to Liability Under 42 U.S.C. section 1983

The Ninth Circuit held that a private nonprofit club that leased city property was not a state actor that could be held liable for constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

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Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies by Appealing a CEQA Determination as Provided by Agency Regulations Precludes Later CEQA Suit

Plaintiffs failed to exhaust administrative remedies because they did not appeal the challenged CEQA decision by the Historic Preservation Commission to the Board of Supervisors. Schmid v. City and County of San Francisco, 60 Cal. App.

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31st Annual Land Use and Development Law Briefing -- Materials Available

On January 26, 2021, attorneys from Perkins Coie presented the 31st Annual Land Use and Development Law Briefing.

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2020 Land Use and Development Case Summaries

Below are summaries of the key California and Ninth Circuit land use and development cases decided in 2020.

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EIS and Biological Opinion Invalidated for Offshore Alaska Oil Project

The Ninth Circuit vacated U.S. Department of the Interior approvals for a proposed offshore oil drilling and production facility in Alaska after finding its EIS improperly failed to consider impacts associated with foreign oil consumption and the U.S.

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Regional Water Quality Control Board Unlawfully Delegated Authority to Modify Effluent Limits Under Discharge Permit

A California Court of Appeal invalidated a wastewater discharge permit issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board that the court found impermissibly delegated to the Board's executive officer the authority to modify effluent limits under the permit. Malaga County Water Dist. v.

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Ninth Circuit Upholds Environmental Assessment for Highway Project in State Park

Courts reviewing an agency's environmental assessment under NEPA may not speculate about potential significant environmental effects that are not supported by the record — they must defer to the agency's reasonable conclusions when they are supported by evidence in the record, especially on issues within the agency's area of expertise. Bair v.

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Brown Act Does Not Require a Finding of Prejudice to Survive a Demurrer

Plaintiffs do not have to allege prejudice caused by a violation of the Brown Act's statutory vote reporting requirement to survive a demurrer, and it is improper to render a case moot by taking judicial notice of only one party's records at the demurrer phase.

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Can a Responsible Agency Impose Mitigation Measures Not Considered in the Lead Agency's EIR?

In Santa Clara Valley Water District v. San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, No. A157127, 2020 WL 7706795 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec.

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Do Conservation Easements Provide Effective Mitigation for Loss of Farmland to Development?

In 2018, the CEQA Guideline which defines the term "mitigation" was amended to add "conservation easements" to the list of measures that can provide "compensatory" mitigation for an environmental impact. Guideline §15370(e).

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Condemnee Need Not Entirely Vacate Premises to Recover Damages After Condemnation is Abandoned

Complete physical dispossession of a property is not a prerequisite to an award of damages after a condemnation proceeding is abandoned—moving from the property in reliance on the order granting the agency possession is sufficient. San Joaquin Regional Transit District v. Superior Court, No. C084755 (3rd Dist., Dec.

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Fifth Appellate District Agrees that Special Taxes Enacted by Initiative Do Not Require Two-Thirds Supermajority Vote.

Another court of appeal has held that local special taxes adopted by a citizen-sponsored initiative do not require two-thirds voter approval. City of Fresno v. Fresno Building Healthy Communities, No. F080264. (5th Dist., Dec.