How To Be A Project Advocate By Diffusing Adjacent Neighbor Tensions
Regulators at all levels are seeking to advance climate-change related policies. Of late, municipalities have increasingly sought to “decarbonize” buildings and related infrastructure through changes to building codes and...more
Welcome to Construction & Claims, a periodic digest of the headlines, statutory and regulatory changes and court cases involving construction news, claims, bid protests, contract administration and payment-related disputes....more
On June 13, 2023, the House of Representatives passed HB 255 (124-79), a groundbreaking bill introduced by Rep. Robert E. Merski (D-Erie Co). This bill aims to fund local municipal code enforcement efforts and establish a...more
The land use entitlement process in California is notoriously complicated, lengthy, and fraught with uncertainty. Less attention is paid to the process of receiving building permits, post-entitlement. Generally, this process...more
Following in the footsteps of the towns of Huntington, Babylon and East Hampton, the Town of Oyster Bay voted on March 7, 2023, to create a Bureau of Administrative Adjudication pursuant to Article 14-BB of the General...more
Massachusetts will soon see significant updates to the energy codes that govern the construction and alteration of buildings throughout the Commonwealth. As required by the 2021 climate bill, the Massachusetts Department of...more
La Sección Primera del Consejo de Estado de Colombia, expidió el pasado 14 de julio de 2022 una sentencia, con ponencia del Consejero Hernando Sánchez Sánchez (la Sentencia), por medio de la cual se hacen importantes...more
All entitlements in Virginia's Fairfax County (Fairfax or the county) are evaluated for their conformance with the county's Comprehensive Plan (Comprehensive Plan). As required by state law, the Comprehensive Plan is a...more
Below are summaries of the key California and Ninth Circuit land use and development law cases decided in 2021. 1. Planning and Zoning - CHEVRON v. COUNTY OF MONTEREY 70 Cal. App. 5th 153 (2021) - A county ordinance...more
Much of the recent news about climate-influenced building codes has come out of California, where the California Energy Commission announced adoption of revisions to its Building Energy Efficiency Standards, also known as the...more
Due to delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other factors, many municipalities across Long Island are experiencing significant backlogs of processing building permit applications. ...more
The history of convenience stores in the United States can be traced back to 1927, when an employee of the Southland Ice Company in Dallas, Texas, realized that people needed a place where they could buy basic necessities...more
In response to Hurricane Dorian, Governor Ron DeSantis has issued Executive Order No. 19-190 (reaffirming and amending Executive Order No. 19-189) declaring a state of emergency for all 67 counties in the state of Florida....more
In Town of Brookhaven v Golemi, 2019 NY Slip Op 51477(U) [Sup Ct, Suffolk County 2019], the Town of Brookhaven (“Brookhaven”) successfully sought and obtained injunctive relief to remove a structure that violated Brookhaven’s...more
In Akeson v Inc. Vil. of Asharoken, 2019 NY Slip Op 32756(U), Index No. 57/2018 (Sup Ct, Suffolk County 2019), the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the Incorporated Village of Asharoken’s (“Asharoken”) decisions...more
What is this all about? Recent speculation on development land and residential area scarcity are no longer solely in the realm of experts. The general public has also been increasingly focused on the application of...more
It is commonplace for a local government agency to require a property or business owner to secure a license or permit for a particular type of operation (such as a liquor license, medical marijuana license, etc.). If the...more
In California, lien priority is usually resolved by a straightforward examination of the time of creation or recordation with the County Recorder, which gives “constructive notice” of the lien to the world. But some liens...more
In Matter of Sagaponack Ventures, LLC v Bd. of Trustees of the Vil. of Sagaponack, the Second Department upheld the denial of an Article 78 proceeding seeking to vacate and annul a determination of the Board of Trustees of...more
The City of Palmdale received a civil inspection warrant to investigate a family-operated motel for alleged violations of both state and local laws....more
Dallas Court of Appeals finds that a home-rule city lacks authority to require landowners developing property in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) to obtain city building permits, inspections and approvals, and...more
Several Long Island municipalities have local laws that peg the issuance of certain building permits to a requirement that contractors and subcontractors be participants in a “qualified apprenticeship program” that is...more
The long-awaited 9th Edition of the Massachusetts State Building Code has been approved by the Massachusetts State Board of Building Regulations and Standards and filed with the Secretary of State, to become effective on...more
The “tiny house” movement is all the rage right now. The cause of the craze may be many faceted. Whether the popularity and demand is being driven by a shift in peoples’ preference to downsize to a more simplified lifestyle...more
The New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code (“Uniform Code”) sets forth uniform building and fire prevention standards for New York State. Article 18 of the NYS Executive Law requires municipalities within...more