Comprehensive Plans must be compelling, realistic, and specific. They should embody discipline and imagination. Importantly, they must resolve the tension between property owners seeking a permit and property owners wanting...more
When a local government agency impermissibly “spot zones” a property, thereby depriving it of all economically beneficial uses, can the property owner seek to invalidate that zoning decision, or is the owner left with a claim...more
Land Use and Development Case Summaries (short form) - 1. PLANNING AND ZONING - CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE V. CITY OF MORENO VALLEY, 26 Cal. App. 5th 689 (2018) - Based on the language and...more
• Two recent decisions by California courts offer important judicial guidance on the longstanding issue of reconciling local government land use decisions with the referendum and initiative powers reserved to the people by...more
• In Visalia Retail, LP v. City of Visalia, the California Court of Appeal has rejected a challenge brought under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to a land use policy in the City of Visalia's General Plan...more
On January 30, 2018, the Fifth Appellate District certified for publication its earlier opinion in Visalia Retail, LP v. City of Visalia, upholding the City of Visalia’s (“City”) 2014 General Plan Update. Plaintiff and...more
Supreme Court Clarifies Valuation Rules on Potential for Future Exactions - City of Perris v. Stamper S217738 (Cal. Supreme Court, July 21, 2016) - Why it matters: The California Supreme Court reexamined the rules...more