From our friends at Courthouse News: LOS ANGELES (CN) — The U.S. Chamber of Commerced claims that two recent California laws requiring large businesses to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and to report their climate-related financial risk amount to “compelled speech” in violation of the First Amendment. On Tuesday the chamber, joined by several other […]
On May 29, a federal judge in California dismissed an environmental group’s lawsuit accusing the U.S. Forest Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, of improperly approving a forest-thinning project. The group argued that the project would imperil gray wolves and northern spotted owls; the former is endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, while […]
April 13, 2018 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Land Use,
News | Tags:
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california land use,
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Housing,
land use,
Land Use Law,
LegislationThe sponsor of California State Senate Bill 827, Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) amended the proposed bill ahead of its first legislative committee debate. SB 827 has potentially significant land use implications and was previously summarized on this blog. To recap, the bill is an aggressive attempt to address the housing shortfall in California by overriding […]
March 31, 2018 | Category:
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Land Use,
Lawsuit | Tags:
California,
california land use,
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Mitigated Negative Declaration,
MNDThe Second District Court of Appeal upheld an infill project approved by the City of Covina in the case Covina Residents for Responsible Development v. City of Covina (Cal. Ct. App., Feb. 28, 2018, No. B279590). The project at issue involved a 58-unit, mixed use, infill project located about a quarter-mile from a commuter rail […]
The California State Legislature began its efforts on housing reform early in 2018, with the release of SB 827 (Weiner) on January 3. This follows the approval of several housing reform bills in 2017. These bills focus on streamlining permitting, enforcing regional housing production benchmarks, and preventing municipalities from down-zoning parcels or rejecting by-right projects. […]
January 16, 2018 | Category:
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Endangered Species,
Land Use,
Lawsuit,
NEPA,
News | Tags:
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land use,
Land Use Law,
lawsuitOn Wednesday, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit rejected environmentalists’ appeal to overturn a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) policy that allows the taking of one owl species to help recover another. Friends of Animals initially sued the USFWS over a 2014 plan to kill thousands of barred owls (on the left in […]
January 15, 2018 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Land Use,
Lawsuit,
News | Tags:
California,
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Land Use Law,
lawsuitIn an unpublished opinion filed January 4, 2018, the Fifth District Court of Appeal rejected challenges to a general plan update prepared by the City of Visalia. Plaintiffs in the case argued that the EIR prepared by the City failed to adequately address urban decay impacts. In particular, plaintiffs argued that the 40,000 square foot […]
January 9, 2018 | Category:
California,
Endangered Species,
Land Use,
Lawsuit,
News | Tags:
California,
california land use,
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endangered species,
environmental group,
land use,
Land Use Law,
lawsuit Last week, California River Watch sued a group of vineyard developers for allegedly violating the Endangered Species Act (ESA), arguing that the group engaged in agricultural practices that harm the protected California Tiger Salamander (CTS). In 2014, a group of developers filed for and received permits to convert 9.8 acres of their property into […]
December 14, 2017 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Land Use,
News | Tags:
California,
california land use,
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Housing,
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Land Use LawIn its latest update to the Housing Opportunity Index (“Index”), the National Association of Home Builders identified Los Angeles to be the most expensive housing market in the nation, overtaking San Francisco, who had held the dubious number ranking for nearly five years. According to the NAHB, just 9% of the homes sold in Los […]
November 4, 2017 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Endangered Species,
Land Use,
Lawsuit | Tags:
California,
california land use,
court case,
Endangered,
endangered species,
land use,
Land Use Law,
lawsuitThis week a group of property owners and developers filed suit against the U.S. Department of Interior, alleging that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) violated federal procedure rules when it repeatedly found that the coastal California gnatcatcher is protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Filed in a D.C. federal court by the […]
