The Assembly Select Committee on Permitting Reform held its first hearing on June 18, 2024, commencing its efforts to address California’s housing and climate crises by reforming the state’s land use permitting regime....more
On May 8th, 2024, the Little Hoover Commission released its much-anticipated report, “CEQA: Targeted Reform for California’s Core Environmental Law” putting forth recommendations to improve the functioning of the California...more
On April 12, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its much-anticipated ruling in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, U.S. No. 22-1074 (petition for certiorari granted 9/29/23) (Sheetz). The case concerned the...more
4/16/2024
/ Building Permits ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Construction Project ,
Fifth Amendment ,
George Sheetz v County of El Dorado ,
Impact Fees ,
Popular ,
Property Owners ,
Real Estate Development ,
SCOTUS ,
Supreme Court Justices ,
Takings Clause ,
Traffic Impact Assessments
Governor Newsom recently approved multiple state housing bills passed by the State Assembly and Senate. The following is a summary of a few of the key bills that are expected to benefit multi-family, mixed-income housing...more
10/13/2023
/ Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Commercial Buildings ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Governor Newsom ,
Housing Developers ,
Low Income Housing ,
Multi-Family Housing ,
Office Space ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Rental Property ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Vacant Properties
On May 17, 2023, the California Supreme Court granted review of Make UC a Good Neighbor v. Regents of Univ. California (2023) 88 Cal.App.5th 656, a highly-publicized decision in which the Court of Appeal held that an...more
In September of 2022, Governor Newsom signed AB 2234 (Rivas, R.), which establishes mandatory timeframes for local agencies to issue post-entitlement permits, and represents another step in the Legislature’s continued efforts...more
New legislation recently introduced by San Francisco Mayor Breed and Supervisor Peskin, is aimed at revitalizing commercially-zoned properties in the greater downtown area. The intent of the legislation is to “address twin...more
In last year’s update, we provided an overview of federal and California regulatory actions designed to protect public health and the environment from the impacts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These actions...more
5/2/2023
/ California ,
CEQA ,
CERCLA ,
Clean Water Act ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Environmental Site Assessment ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Housing Developers ,
Office Space ,
Offshore Wind ,
PFAS ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Safe Drinking Water Act ,
State and Local Government
There has been a flurry of recent legislation to encourage the repurposing of underutilized office buildings, both on the state and local level. New legislation recently proposed in San Francisco would facilitate the...more
California’s Court of Appeal for the Third District recently held that El Dorado County’s imposition of a Traffic Impact Mitigation Fee (TIM) as a condition of approval for a residential building permit was valid under the...more
The California Supreme Court held last week that a referendum petition may be used to challenge a zoning ordinance amendment intended to make a city's zoning consistent with its general plan. In City of Morgan Hill v. Bushey...more