CEQA

Gov. Newsom Takes a Half-Hearted Swipe at CEQA Delays

Opponents of development projects often weaponize review under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) to cause delay and increase costs for project developers in the hope of killing projects. On May 19, Gov. Newsom introduced a legislative package tackling two (of the many) offenders of the “CEQA bottleneck”: drawn-out administrative record preparation and lengthy legal […]

Scott Wiener Narrows California Housing Bill Prior to First Debate

The 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 […]

Second District Court of Appeal Upholds Project Approved via MND (and a Categorical Exemption)

The 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 […]

California Legislation AB 1905: The Road to Construction without Environmental Roadblocks

Proposed Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1905 by Assemblyman Tim Grayson aims to make it harder for lawsuits filed under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) to stop construction of roads and public transit. This legislation is specifically aimed at the road or transit projects that are included in state-approved regional growth plans. These projects have already […]

Legislative Push for State Housing Reform Continues into 2018

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. […]

Substantial Evidence: It’s a thing. Fifth District Court of Appeal Upholds General Plan Update, Citing Plaintiff’s Failure to Introduce Substantial Evidence

In an unpublished opinion filed January 4, 2018, the Fifth District Court of Appeal rejected challenges to a general plan update prepared by the City of Visalia.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 […]

CEQA: Second District Court of Appeal Affirms Trial Court Authority to Limit Decertification of EIR

In a case certified for partial publication, the Second District Court of Appeal addressed the Public Resources Code section 21168.9 mandate that a court’s order overturning the CEQA decision of a public agency shall be limited to the scope necessary to bring the agency’s decision into compliance with CEQA. The case, Center for Biological Diversity […]

Los Angeles supplants San Francisco as the nation’s least affordable housing market.

In 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 […]

First District Upholds Application of CEQA Categorical Exemption in Marin County

In an unpublished decision filed November 6, 2017, the First district Court of Appeal upheld a County decision to approve a design review application for a market and grocery store renovation project. (Case No. A150043) The petitioner appealed from a trial court decision, which found application of the CEQA exemption proper. Marin County first issued […]

Third District Court of Appeal Upholds EIR for Freeway Improvement Project

In an unpublished decision filed on October 24, 2017, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld a trial court’s denial of a CEQA challenge to a freeway interchange and arterial roadway project. The case, Eureka Village Homeowners Association v. City of Rancho Cordova (C082276) considers whether the EIR prepared by the city analyzed a reasonable […]

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