A Court of Appeal held that the CEQA statute of limitations period does not begin to run after the filing of an initial notice of determination if the project is appealed. Central for Biological Diversity v. County of San...more
Senate Bill (SB) 1227, introduced by Senator Scott Wiener on February 15, 2024, would help speed the recovery of downtown San Francisco by creating a new CEQA exemption for qualifying commercial, institutional, student...more
In Durkin v. City & County of San Francisco (2023) 90 Cal.App.5th 643, the First District Court of Appeal held that the trial court erred in granting the real party in interest’s special motion to strike under anti-SLAPP...more
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
In this op-ed for pv magazine, David Lazerwitz and Linda Sobczynski of Farella Braun + Martel examine the levels of precaution necessary to ensure fire risk mitigation in project development. Originally published in...more
On January 1, 2020, several housing-related bills recently signed into law by the Governor take effect. We will explain the upcoming changes in housing law through a series of updates. Our first update provided information...more
Planning and zoning decisions by a non-legislative body or public official authorized under a municipal code are subject to the 90-day statute of limitations of Government Code section 65009(c)(1), the court of appeal ruled...more
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development - In an unpublished opinion issued October 22, 2018, Tennis Club Preservation Society v. City of Palm Springs, Case No. E068896, the California Court...more
The Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a mitigated negative declaration where the project opponent correctly appealed the approval of entitlements but failed to properly appeal the CEQA determination under the City of San...more
Welcome to CEQA News You Can Use, a quarterly publication of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP’s Natural Resources lawyers. This publication is intended to provide quick, useful bites of CEQA news that we hope can be a...more
On December 20, 2017, the Fourth District Court of Appeal delivered a solid win for the City of San Diego in a multi-faceted challenge to its approval of a private school pursuant to a Mitigated Negative Declaration (“MND”)....more
L.A. to Legalize Residential Units Previously Created in Violation of Building Code - On May 10, 2017, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that would permit previously unapproved dwelling...more
Okay, maybe slightly longer than 60 seconds. The point being, though, that CEQA case updates really should not read like law school case briefs. Long discussion of the lower court’s findings? No thank you. ...more
California's Fourth District Court of Appeal has provided useful guidance on processing requirements for environmental review documents prepared under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when project modifications...more
In its February 14 decision (certified for publication on March 15) in Residents Against Specific Plan 380 v. County of Riverside, the Fourth Appellate District upheld the County of Riverside’s (“County’s”) approval of a...more
City of Los Angeles - City Council - PLUM Approves Clean Up Green Up Ordinance - On November 24, 2015, the Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) considered the draft Clean Up Green Up (CUGU)...more