News & Analysis as of

California Environmental Quality Act Land Developers

Allen Matkins

California Court of Appeal Clarifies What Constitutes a “Rare” Species Under CEQA

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On June 27, 2024, the California First District Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of a writ petition challenging the City of Lafayette’s (City) determination that a 12-unit residential condominium building qualified for the...more

Miller Starr Regalia

Supreme Court Holds Legislature’s Case-Driven CEQA Amendments Require Judgment Upholding UC Berkeley’s 2021 Long-Range Development...

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“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” Yogi Berra and Lenny Kravitz - In a unanimous opinion filed on June 6, 2024, the California Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the First District Court of Appeal in the controversial...more

Perkins Coie

Council Resolution Approving an Amendment to a Disposition and Development Agreement Was Subject to Referendum

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The court of appeal held that a City Council resolution approving a development agreement that included policy decisions regarding development of a public park was a legislative act subject to referendum. Move Eden Housing v....more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

CEQA News You Can Use - August 2023 - Volume 8, Issue 2

Welcome to “CEQA News You Can Use,” a quarterly production of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP’s Natural Resources lawyers. This publication provides quick, useful bites of CEQA news, which we hope can be a resource to...more

Perkins Coie

Bond Properly Required for Challenge to Affordable Housing

Perkins Coie on

A local organization appealed the denial of its challenge to the approval of an affordable housing project and disputed the trial court’s order requiring it to post a bond. The Court of Appeal rejected plaintiff’s contentions...more

Perkins Coie

33rd Annual Land Use & Development Law Briefing - 2023

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Land Use and Development Case Summaries 2023 Land Use and Development Law Briefing (Short Form) 1. Planning And Zoning - OLD EAST DAVIS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION V. CITY OF DAVIS 73 Cal. App. 5th 895 (2022) The court...more

Miller Starr Regalia

Attorney General’s Guidance On “Best Practices” For CEQA Analysis Of And Mitigation For Wildfire-Related Impacts Is Long On...

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“We didn’t start the fire….” -Billy Joel - Wildfires are an unfortunate reality of life in California and have become of increasing concern over the past several years.  Eight of the ten largest wildfires in the state since...more

Allen Matkins

Court Rules CEQA Determinations Must be Included on Public Meeting Agendas

Allen Matkins on

In March of 2021, the City of Thousand Oaks posted an agenda for its regular City Council meeting in which it was stated that the City would consider awarding a new exclusive solid waste management franchise agreement. During...more

Perkins Coie

County Did Not Violate Its Duties Under CEQA By Approving a Project at the Density Agreed to in a Stipulated Judgment

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The court held that the County of Marin did not abdicate its duties under CEQA when it approved a specific project pursuant to a stipulated judgment. Tiburon Open Space Committee v. County of Marin, 78 Cal. App. 5th 700...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Court Rules on Parking Reduction & CEQA Impact

Confirms Reduction in Parking Considered Social Impact Rather Than Environmental - The Second Appellate District Court of Appeal has upheld approval of a recreational improvements/ecological restoration project despite the...more

Nossaman LLP

Court Upholds Special CEQA Streamlining Legislation for Oakland A’s Park Project

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The enactment of special CEQA streamlining legislation for the Sacramento Kings arena nearly a decade ago created a model for a series of mega-project specific bills, all aimed at reducing the development uncertainty and the...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Mandate to Provide Traffic Improvements Prior to Project Approval Struck Down

In Alliance for Responsible Planning v. Taylor, the Third District Court of Appeal recently struck down a voter initiative requiring a developer to fund all cumulative traffic mitigation as a condition precedent to project...more

Downey Brand LLP

CEQA Plaintiffs Beware: Meritless Lawsuits May Be Subject To Counter-Claims for Malicious Prosecution

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In Jan Dunning et al. v. Kevin K. Johnson, APLC et al., the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a developer and property owner could pursue its claims against a neighbor and project opponent for malicious prosecution...more

Downey Brand LLP

Poseidon’s Desalination Plant’s Supplemental EIR Holds Water According to the Court of Appeal

Downey Brand LLP on

In California Coastkeeper v. State Lands Commission, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld the State Lands Commission’s decision to prepare a supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) for a desalination plant in...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Court Grants Attorneys' Fees Against City in Development Litigation

CEQA Appellate Court Decision Analyzed by BB&K's Amanda Daams in PublicCEO - A large attorneys’ fees award under the private attorney general statute was recently affirmed by a California Appellate Court. The case,...more

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

What 2020 Land Use Cases Taught (Or Reminded) Us About Litigation Basics

Last year brought the legal profession many things that we never expected, like trials conducted by Zoom and virtual happy hours, just to name a few. But it also brought a handful of new CEQA and land use decisions that, like...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Caltrans Releases New Interim Guidance for Conducting Safety Impact Analyses Under CEQA

Guidance Brings Heightened Scrutiny - The California Department of Transportation recently released “Interim Land Development and Intergovernmental Review (LDIGR) Caltrans Safety Review Practitioners Guidance.” It...more

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Amended Court Rule Provides Certainty for CEQA Statutes of Limitations

On April 6, 2020, the Judicial Council of California (Council) adopted a court rule that tolled statutes of limitations for all civil causes of action until 90 days after the Governor declares that the state of emergency is...more

Allen Matkins

Sustainable Development and Land Use Update - June 2020

Allen Matkins on

Judicial Council amends prior emergency rule to adjust land use litigation deadlines - Bullet Allen Matkins – May 29 - On May 29, 2020, the California Judicial Council amended its Emergency Rule 9 to provide fixed...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Fall Season Results in California Coastal Commission Victories

This Fall, the California Coastal Commission (“Commission”) was handed down two significant victories, further cementing its authority and jurisdiction within California coastal zones. These cases demonstrate that, in certain...more

Miller Starr Regalia

Are Urban Land Uses And Project Design Components Fungible For CEQA Project Description Purposes As Long As Maximum Possible...

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In an opinion originally filed on July 31, and belatedly ordered published on August 22, 2019, the Second District Court of Appeal (Division 3) affirmed a judgment granting a CEQA writ petition invalidating the final EIR and...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

CEQA News You Can Use - Vol. 4, Issue 2

Welcome to CEQA News You Can Use, a quarterly production of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP’s Natural Resources lawyers. This publication provides quick, useful bites of CEQA news, which we hope can be a resource to your...more

Perkins Coie

EIR’s Project Description May Present Alternative Development Options and the Agency May Approve A Variant of an Analyzed...

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An EIR’s project description may identify alternative development schemes proposed for a single project, and the agency may approve a modified version of the project that incorporates elements of one of the alternatives...more

Miller Starr Regalia

CEQA Wars: The Developer Strikes Back (In Federal Court)

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Background - A long time ago, in a legal galaxy far, far away, Emperor Reagan signed the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) into law. For many years, the “dark forces” that had wrought the adverse environmental...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment Upheld Under CEQA

In Sacramentans for Fair Planning v. City of Sacramento (2019) ___ Cal.App. 5th ___, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld the City of Sacramento’s use of a sustainable communities environmental assessment (“SCEA”)...more

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