The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear Huntington Beach’s appeal in litigation over California’s affordable housing requirements. Declining Monday to consider the city’s appeal. In December, the California Supreme Court...more
Most challenges to local land use decisions in Washington must be brought under the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), RCW chapter 36.70C. LUPA governs appeals of permit denials, preliminary plat approvals, variances, conditional...more
A catch-all provision in the County’s encroachment permit checklist requiring “[o]ther information as may be required” violated the Permit Streamlining Act because it failed to specify required information with sufficient...more
The Virginia General Assembly has filed a bill that would make challenges of local land use decisions more difficult. ...more
As many developers know, administrative approval of a request from a local zoning board can be an important step to making sure your project is approved in the timely manner that you desire....more
In Stone v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Northborough (“Stone”), plaintiffs residing across the street from a proposed 20,000 square foot warehouse appealed a decision by the Northborough Zoning Board of Appeals (the “Board”)...more
Over the last several years, we’ve been following an eminent domain case playing out in Mendocino County related to the Skunk Train. In 2023, the court concluded that the Skunk Train operator, Mendocino Railway, did not have...more
In Ohio Environmental Council v. State of Ohio, Case No. 23-CV-002403, the court of common pleas of Franklin County, Ohio addressed certain claims brought by environmental groups seeking to challenge the state land leasing...more
Once again, a Texas court has barred a lawsuit because the plaintiff waited too long to file. And once again, perhaps, the suit was a Hail Mary after alternatives failed. In Hobson v. Commissioners Court of Palo Pinto...more
Nahant Preservation Trust, Inc. v. Northeastern University, 104 Mass.App.Ct. 698 (2024) - Nahant Preservation Trust, Inc. v. Northeastern University involved a dispute over whether a private landowner (“Northeastern”) had...more
Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) reversed an Appeals Court panel in a strongly-worded decision concerning abutter standing to appeal a zoning decision, Stone v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Northborough...more
All civil judicial proceedings must be in the form of an action – unless otherwise authorized by statute, i.e. in the form of a special proceeding (see CPLR 103[b]). While most lawsuits are brought solely in the form of...more
Courts are supposed to decide only the necessary things. They’re supposed to avoid weighing in on issues that don’t need a decision. Those principles came to a head in the Supreme Court of Virginia last month in Rebh v...more
The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides that “No person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just...more
Until recently, local policies on homelessness have been guided by two controversial rulings from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals: Martin v. Boise (9th Cir. 2019) 920 F.3d 584 and Johnson v. City of Grants Pass (9th Cir....more
The Land Use Calendar will primarily cover appeals from decisions of local review boards such as zoning boards, appeals relating to development applications, and appeals from the enactment or amendment of zoning ordinances....more
Near the end of 2023, the United States Supreme Court declined to consider the City of Costa Mesa’s appeal of a January Ninth Circuit ruling in SoCal Recovery, LLC v. City of Costa Mesa (2023) 56 F.4th 802. The decision held...more
“We’re gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning. And you’ll say, ‘Please, please. It’s too much winning. We can’t take it anymore.’” That was what then-candidate Trump promised life would be like in America...more
When disputes arise over land use issues, whether it is the approval or denial of a land use application, we have traditionally turned to our judicial system for their resolution. Indeed, in Connecticut, we have been...more
California’s Second District Court of Appeal recently affirmed that a shorter 90-day statute of limitations, and not a longer three- or four- year statute of limitations, applies to Political Reform Act (PRA) claims that...more
The Fourth District Court of Appeal held that California courts do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate claims involving objections to regional housing needs assessment (RHNA) allocations. City of Coronado v. San Diego...more
In a case potentially overshadowed by the California Supreme Court’s same-day denial to hear a request to stay a cap on student admissions at UC Berkeley, the Second Appellate District Court (Div. 2) issued its opinion in...more
In Citizens’ Committee to Complete the Refuge et al. v. City of Newark et al., the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 4) found the California Environmental Quality Act did not require subsequent or supplemental...more
In Alliance for Responsible Planning v. Taylor, the Third District Court of Appeal recently struck down a voter initiative requiring a developer to fund all cumulative traffic mitigation as a condition precedent to project...more
The Appellate Law Practice Group of Roetzel & Andress represented clients in a wide variety of cases in both state and federal courts, appealing adverse trial court rulings and successfully defending lower court victories on...more