September 25, 2017 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Land Use,
Lawsuit | Tags:
appeal,
California,
california land use,
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Land Use Law,
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mitchell chadwick,
mitchell chadwick llpThe First District Court of Appeal recently upheld the City of South San Francisco’s decision to approve a CUP for converting office buildings to a medical clinic via a CEQA categorical exemption. (Respect Life South San Francisco v. City of South San Francisco (2017) Case No. A145992.) The proposed conversion included only minor physical changes […]
In response to President Trump’s August 15, 2017 Executive Order directing administrative agencies to review and approve infrastructure approvals in a more expeditious manner, the Department of the Interior issued Order No. 3355 imposing page and time limits on Environmental Impact Statements. On August 15, 2017, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt issued Order […]
In response to President Trump’s request for an auditing of national monuments, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended redrawing the boundaries of certain national monuments rather than a wholesale rescission of the monument status. Details on the recommended cuts have not yet been publicized, though in the past few months, Zinke declined to adjust the boundaries […]
On August 10, 2017, Public Citizen, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Communications Workers of America, and Earthjustice appeared before Judge Randolph Moss of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to overturn President Trump’s mandate that each new regulation must be counteracted by repeal of two similar regulations. President […]
August 14, 2017 | Category:
California,
Land Use,
Lawsuit,
News | Tags:
California,
California Coastal Commission,
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land use,
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mitchell chadwick llpThis week, a California court created an important precedent for public right-of-way access cases, when it ordered a billionaire to reopen access to a formerly public beach in San Mateo County. The First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 3-0 that Vinod Khosla violated state law when he closed access to Martins Beach […]
August 10, 2017 | Category:
California,
Land Use,
Lawsuit,
News | Tags:
California,
california land use,
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mitchell chadwick llpThe Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court judgment dismissing a CEQA challenge filed by environmental groups against the California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), in Association for Irritated Residents v. Dept. of Conservation (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 1202. The environmental groups challenged DOGGR’s issuance of 214 permits […]
August 9, 2017 | Category:
California,
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Land Use,
Lawsuit,
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California,
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mitchell chadwick llpThe California Supreme Court denied a request for depublication in Sierra Club v. County of Sonoma (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 11, on July 26, 2017. As a result, the First District Court of Appeal’s decision finding against Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity is citable precedent. The case involved a challenge to Sonoma County’s decision […]
May 20, 2017 | Category:
Land Use,
Lawsuit,
Water | Tags:
court case,
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land use,
Land Use Law,
lawsuit,
mitchell chadwick llp,
Water,
Water Law,
Waters Of The U.S.Environmental groups are taking issue with President Trump’s executive order instructing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider interpreting the term “navigable waters” in a manner consistent with the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion in Rapanos v. United States. In his opinion Justice Scalia concluded that the Clean Water Act only applies to relatively permanent […]
A Washington state judge rejected an environmental activist’s request to present a necessity defense at his trail, where the “activist,” along with four other “activists” face charges of sabotage and burglary. The defendant admitted to illegally entering a pipeline facility near Anacortes, Washington, and shutting off a valve. The defendant argued his actions were somehow justified since […]
May 6, 2017 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Land Use,
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California,
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traffic studyIn a recent decision, the California Supreme Court added to the complexity of CEQA review for projects in coastal areas. On March 30, 2017, the Supreme Court issued its holding in Banning Ranch Conservancy v. City of Newport Beach (S227473), which struck down an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared by the City of Newport Beach […]
