Conflict of Laws › Zoning, Planning & Land Use

Florida to Government: Your Lien Doesn't Foreclose This Old Mortgage

The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that cities cannot create ordinances that subject prior recorded mortgages to their subsequently recorded county or governmental liens, because it conflicts with Florida's state statutes on...more

N.Y. Appellate Division Affirms Zoning Ordinance Banning Hydraulic Fracturing

Sedgwick’s Hydraulic Fracturing Task Force has been watching the ongoing litigation involving hydraulic fracturing (fracking) bans in the towns of Dryden and Middlefield, N.Y. In February 2012 we reported on the Supreme...more

California Supreme Court: Cities Can Ban Facilities That Distribute Medical Marijuana

The California Supreme Court recently resolved the issue of whether a city could enact zoning ordinances prohibiting and banning medical marijuana dispensaries. The Supreme Court held that state medical marijuana laws do not...more

California Cities And Counties Can “Just Say No” To Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

The California Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a local ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, holding that the ban was not preempted by state statutes governing medical marijuana. The decision does not come as a...more

New York Court Upholds Local Hydraulic Fracturing and Oil and Gas Development Bans

Last Friday, a four judge panel of a New York appeals court upheld two local zoning laws that prohibit activities related to oil and gas exploration and development, including hydraulic fracturing. The decisions in Norse...more

California Supreme Court Recognizes Local Authority in Medical Marijuana Case - Decision Likely to Have Far-Reaching Impacts on...

In an unanimous opinion, the California Supreme Court has upheld local laws that regulate or prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries....more

Texas Supreme Court Rules in Southern Crushed Concrete that Texas Clean Air Act Preempts City of Houston Land Use Ordinance

On February 15, 2013, the Texas Supreme Court reversed the rulings of both a trial court and lower appellate court and found in favor of Southern Crushed Concrete in holding that a City of Houston ordinance placing location...more

Divided Supreme Court Upholds Chicago Condo Association Ordinance

Yesterday, the Illinois Supreme Court filed its long-awaited opinion in Palm v. 2800 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association. Although on its face, Palm relates only to the enforceability of a Chicago city ordinance on...more

Illinois Supreme Court to Decide Condominium Dispute on Thursday

The Illinois Supreme Court just announced that on Thursday morning, it will file its opinion in Palm v. 2800 Lake Shore Drive Condominium Association, a dispute over an owner’s right to compel the production of documents by...more

Federal Court Holds Local Law Preempted By ESA Settlement

The Palila (Loxioides bailleui) is a small bird native to Hawaii that was listed as endangered in 1967. In 1998, the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, pursuant to a stipulation submitted by the parties, issued...more

Court Of Appeal Upholds City’s Ban On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

A cooperative corporation that operates a nonprofit medical marijuana collective challenged city ordinances that ban medical marijuana dispensaries. The court of appeal held that the ordinances are not preempted by the...more

Youngstown City Hydraulic Fracturing Ban Approved for May Ballot

In late February, we covered the state and federal legislative and enforcement responses to the release of hydraulic fracturing waste into a Youngstown, Ohio area tributary by a local oil and gas drilling operator. Shortly...more

Virginia AG: Localities Cannot Ban Gas Drilling Through Zoning

Continuing on this blog’s ongoing exploration of the intersection of state and local regulation of shale drilling, several weeks ago Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued an advisory opinion finding that state oil...more

County May Regulate Cultivation of Medical Marijuana

A rural county passed an ordinance to regulate the cultivation of medical marijuana. A group of individuals who are “qualified patients” challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance. The court of appeal held that the...more

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Are Now Operating in Arizona

On December 3, 2012, an Arizona Superior Court judge issued an order holding that the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) does not preempt the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act. Three days later, the first medical marijuana...more

Lead Agency Could Not Bypass CEQA Review By Adopting A Voter-Sponsored Initiative As An Ordinance Instead Of Placing The...

A court of appeal created a split of authority when it ruled that California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) review was necessary when a city approved a project, by adopting as an ordinance, an initiative petition that...more

NH Supreme Court Rules That State Law Preempts Municipal Restrictions on Excavation Permitting

On November 9, 2012, the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued its decision in Town of Carroll v. Rines (“Rines”), invalidating certain municipal regulations that limited excavations....more

Impossible and Useless CEQA Review Is Required If City Opts Under Elections Code to Adopt Legislative Project Approvals Proposed...

In a case notable for its unique conception of “meaningful discretion” for purposes of triggering CEQA review, the Fifth District Court of Appeal has created a split in authority that will undoubtedly require Supreme Court...more

Litigation Update: California Supreme Court Grants Review Of L.A. Light Rail Case

On August 8th, the California Supreme Court granted review of the Second District Court of Appeal’s decision in Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority. As previously blogged in April, the...more

Federal Government's Eminent Domain Power Trumps California's Sovereign Public Trust Title

The United States condemned tide and submerged lands leased by the Port of San Diego to the U.S. Navy. The Port held the lands under a trust grant from the State of California, and therefore defending the state’s sovereign...more

D.C. Circuit Rebuffs Challenges to EPA’s Climate Change Regulations

In considering the most serious efforts to date to invalidate the federal climate change regulations, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously upheld several of EPA’s Clean Air Act greenhouse gas (GHG)...more

Second Appellate District Approves Use of Projected Future Baseline to Measure Environmental Impacts in L.A. Light Rail Case

On Tuesday, the Second District Court of Appeal issued its decision in Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, ruling that a lead agency’s use of projected future conditions to measure the...more

Court Upholds Use of Future CEQA Baseline, Contravening Sunnyvale and Madera

On April 17, 2012, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District upheld the use of a 2030 baseline for an Environmental Impact Report’s (EIR) traffic and air quality analysis in Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition...more

Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency

SCOTUS Opinion in Sackett v. EPA

Full text copy of the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Sackett v. EPA, allowing landowners judicial review when faced with compliance orders from EPA regarding violations of the Clean Water Act....more

Pennsylvania Passes Comprehensive Amendments to Oil and Gas Laws

On February 13, Governor Tom Corbett signed House Bill 1950, amending Title 58 (Oil and Gas) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. This legislation, most of which will become effective on April 13, imposes a drilling...more