California law requires cities and counties to regularly plan for new housing development and to prepare and adopt housing elements that formalize these plans. For those cities and counties that fail to adopt housing elements...more
9/12/2024
/ Community Development ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
General Contractors ,
Governor Newsom ,
Housing Developers ,
Pending Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Remedies ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 12, 2024, that the "Takings Clause" enshrined in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies equally to legislative and administratively imposed land use permitting fees. Since...more
4/17/2024
/ CEQA ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Dolan v City of Tigard ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Impact Fees ,
Land Use Fees ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Nexus ,
Nollan v California Coastal Commission ,
Private Property ,
Property Owners ,
Proportionality ,
Real Estate Development ,
Rough Proportionality Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Takings Clause
The 2023 California Legislative session, like the last several, saw the enactment of a large number of significant new housing production laws. (See Holland & Knight's previous annual recaps of California Housing Laws in the...more
11/6/2023
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Density Bonus ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Low Income Housing ,
New Legislation ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Real Estate Development ,
Urban Planning & Development
One of the key problems contributing to California's housing crisis is that it is relatively easy for housing opponents to file litigation challenging housing approvals, and even a completely meritless lawsuit can cause years...more
O'Brien Land Company's more than a decade-long odyssey to build 315 zoning-compliant homes – chronicled in Conor Dougherty's book Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America – has become the stuff of housing law legend,...more
As in previous years, the California Legislature enacted a large volume of housing production laws in the 2022 session, some of which may have a significant effect on housing production in 2023. ...more
10/11/2022
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Colleges ,
Density Bonus ,
Governor Newsom ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
LEED Certified ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Parking Lots ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Student Housing ,
Universities ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
The California Legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 2011 (Wicks), the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, and Senate Bill (SB) 6 (Caballero), the Middle Class Housing Act of 2022, on Aug. 29, 2022. Both pieces...more
Recent decisions from two court cases – Schreiber v. City of Los Angeles1 and Bankers Hill 150 v. City of San Diego2 – make California's Density Bonus Law a powerful tool not just for accessing increased density, but also for...more
6/2/2022
/ Affordable Housing ,
Amended Legislation ,
Density Bonus ,
General Plan ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Incentives ,
Market Rate ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Real Estate Development ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Waivers
As in previous years, the California Legislature passed a large volume of laws related to housing in the 2021 legislative session. (See Holland & Knight's previous annual recaps of California Housing Laws in the final section...more
10/13/2021
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
CC&Rs ,
CEQA ,
Density Bonus ,
Equity Sharing Agreements ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Market Rate ,
Multi-Family Development ,
New Legislation ,
Nonprofits ,
Parking Lots ,
Single Family Housing ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
California Senate Bill (SB) 10, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Sept. 16, 2021, and will take effect on Jan. 1, 2022, provides that local agencies may adopt an ordinance to allow up to 10 dwelling units on any...more
In California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund v. City of San Mateo, now the leading published authority on California's Housing Accountability Act (HAA), California's First District Court of Appeal affirmed that the...more
In Linovitz Capo Shores LLC v. Calif. Coastal Commission (Linovitz Capo), California's Fourth District Court of Appeal applied and reconciled three different statutes. The first, the California Mobilehome Parks Act...more
7/4/2021
/ Appeals ,
California Coastal Commission ,
Coastal Real Estate ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Due Process ,
Housing Market ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Mobile Homes ,
Public Hearing ,
Public Notice ,
Real Estate Development ,
Reversal ,
Split of Authority
Signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 20, 2021, and taking immediate effect as an "urgency statute," Senate Bill (SB) 7 revives and expands the previously enacted Environmental Leadership Development Project...more
6/1/2021
/ CEQA ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Housing Developers ,
HUD ,
LEED Certified ,
LEED Rules ,
Net Zero ,
New Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government
The California Court of Appeal has delivered a victory to Holland & Knight clients Ruegg & Ellsworth and Frank Spenger Company, as well as to housing advocates across the state, in a landmark opinion on the state's new...more
As California's housing supply and homelessness crisis continues to worsen, the state Legislature has for the past several years passed numerous pieces of housing legislation in each legislative session. ...more
9/23/2020
/ Affordable Housing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Housing Market ,
Landlords ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Development ,
Residential Leases ,
State and Local Government ,
Tenants ,
Urban Planning & Development
In a closely watched case, Protecting Our Water & Environmental Resources v. County of Stanislaus (POWER), Case No. S251708 (Aug. 27, 2020), the California Supreme Court has issued its first significant decision about the...more
The California State Judicial Council amended California Rule of Court, Emergency Rule No. 9, on May 29, 2020, lifting its previously adopted indefinite tolling of the limitation period to bring civil lawsuits. The amended...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Judicial Council on April 6, 2020, introduced amendments to the California Rules of Court, which are effective immediately and impact a broad suite of criminal and civil...more
For decades, the California State Legislature has enacted numerous laws that limit the authority of local governments to constrain the supply and affordability of housing. These include the Housing Element Law, which requires...more
12/5/2019
/ Affordable Housing ,
Appeals ,
City Charters ,
Legislative History ,
Low Income Housing ,
Municipalities ,
Public Land ,
Real Estate Development ,
Reversal ,
State and Local Government ,
State Constitutions ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced during his campaign that one of the ways in which he intended to deliver on his ambitious housing goals was to make state and local surplus properties more available for affordable...more
11/6/2019
/ Affordable Housing ,
Amended Legislation ,
Community Development ,
Construction Industry ,
Databases ,
Governor Newsom ,
Housing Developers ,
New Legislation ,
Public Agencies ,
Public Property ,
Request for Proposals ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Maps
A handful of important state laws related to housing have been passed by the California legislature, including the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330), which provides a set of limited reforms to the Housing Accountability Act...more
11/6/2019
/ Affordable Housing ,
Amended Legislation ,
Density Bonus ,
Homeless Issues ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Multi-Family Development ,
Notice Requirements ,
Pending Legislation ,
Rent Control ,
State and Local Government ,
Tenants ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
As California's housing supply and homelessness crisis continues, the State Legislature has for the past several years passed numerous pieces of housing legislation in each legislative session. This year was no exception,...more
10/21/2019
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
Agricultural Sector ,
Building Permits ,
CEQA ,
Common-Interest Communities ,
Community Development ,
Governor Newsom ,
Homeowners Association (HOA) ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Infrastructure Financing ,
Land Trusts ,
Multi-Family Development ,
Pending Legislation ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Rent Control ,
Residential Real Estate Contracts ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Wildfires ,
Zoning Laws
• Overruling a decades-old precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that property owners no longer need to exhaust state-court procedures before bringing federal takings claims in federal court.
• For California property...more
6/25/2019
/ 42 U.S.C. §1983 ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Inverse Condemnation ,
Just Compensation ,
Knick v Township of Scott Pennsylvania ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
State Law Remedies ,
Takings Clause
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on Nov. 29, 2018, issued its final Guidelines for the implementation of Senate Bill 35 of 2017 (SB 35).
SB 35 requires most local governments to issue...more
• After the California Legislature passed a high-profile package of 15 new housing laws in 2017, it has continued to focus on housing laws in 2018 to address the state's epic housing shortage.
• As Gov. Jerry Brown winds...more
10/8/2018
/ Affordable Housing ,
Bay Area ,
CEQA ,
CEQA Reform ,
Comment Period ,
Density Bonus ,
Governor Brown ,
Housing Market ,
Low Income Housing ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Multi-Family Development ,
New Legislation ,
Public Comment ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development