In its decision in Upland Community First v. City of Upland, the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the development of a warehouse and parcel delivery service building against a...more
In Westside Los Angeles Neighbors Network v. City of Los Angeles, the Second District Court of Appeals considered and upheld the City of Los Angeles’s (“City”) actions associated with the approval of the Westside Mobility...more
The 2023 legislative cycle saw another mixed-bag of legislation dealing with CEQA “reform,” with a particular focus on streamlining affordable housing development. While many bills died during the process, a few key laws were...more
1/10/2024
/ California ,
CEQA ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
On July 6, 2023, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed into law a provision to exempt certain affordable housing projects from the city’s Site Plan Review Process. The exemption was made as an amendment to Site Plan Review...more
7/19/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
California ,
CEQA ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Homeless Issues ,
Housing Market ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Low Income Housing ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Multi-Family Housing ,
New Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Site Plans ,
State and Local Government
In the City of Los Angeles, the “Homelessness and Housing Solutions Tax” (Measure ULA), commonly referred to as the “mansion tax,” went into effect on all qualifying real property transfers on April 1, 2023. Prior to Measure...more
In an effort to address the ongoing California housing crisis and exorbitant development costs, the 2022 Legislative Season saw the introduction of approximately 40 housing-related bills, resulting in the passage of various...more
Two significant changes to California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) noticing and filing requirements and procedures recently took effect. First, on September 23, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-80-20...more
11/14/2020
/ CEQA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deadlines ,
Electronic Filing ,
Electronic Reporting ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Executive Orders ,
Exemptions ,
Filing Requirements ,
Governor Newsom ,
Notice of Determination (NODs) ,
Notice Requirements
On July 30, 2019, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an update to the “Transportation” section of the City’s California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Threshold Guide. City Council’s action has effectively...more
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
8/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
CEQA ,
Construction Project ,
Due Process ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Equal Protection ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Land Developers ,
Sustainable Communities Strategy ,
Zoning Laws