Religious Use Law in South Florida
Rapid Transit Zones in Miami-Dade County
Real Estate Developer Rights When Cities Demand Too Much
Newsflash: Rockweed Not a Fish
Welcome to the Third Issue of Sullivan’s Zoning and Development Newsletter- This newsletter is a collaboration between members of our Permitting & Land Use Practice Group and the Litigation Department, in order to provide...more
The month of September was a bad month for the City of Minneapolis’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan (2040 Comp Plan). On September 5, 2023, Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District (Hennepin County) released a decision temporarily...more
The court of appeal held that the City’s determination that a mixed-use development project was consistent with applicable general plans policies and standards was supported by substantial evidence. Old East Davis...more
In Linovitz Capo Shores LLC v. Calif. Coastal Commission (Linovitz Capo), California's Fourth District Court of Appeal applied and reconciled three different statutes. The first, the California Mobilehome Parks Act...more
In an opinion filed on April 19, and certified for publication on May 4, 2021, the Third Appellate District in Alliance for Responsible Planning v. Taylor (County of El Dorado) held that a citizen-sponsored ballot measure...more
In March, the Southern California Association of Governments (“SCAG”) will adopt final Regional Housing Needs Assessment (“RHNA”) allocations for cities and counties within the SCAG region. This 6th RHNA cycle represents the...more
A court could properly direct a city council to correct internal inconsistencies in its general plan resulting from adoption of an initiative. Denham, LLC v. City of Richmond, 41 Cal. App. 5th 340 (2019). The Richmond City...more
Calif. Appellate Court Decision May Also Apply to Other Types of Water Providers - An irrigation district may adopt and enforce reasonable rules related to water service, and may terminate water delivery for failure to...more
In California, priority between competing liens on the same real property is usually determined by the “first in time, first in right” rule. Under that rule, different liens on the same property have priority according to...more
An appellate court has held that the sole means of challenging a certified local coastal program (LCP) based on violation of the California Coastal Act is a petition for writ of administrative mandate under Code of Civil...more
Energy Companies to Appeal Loss of Forest Service Permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline - "The builders of the $7 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline say they will appeal a federal court ruling that invalidated a permit allowing...more
Deciding that the “primary and predominant” purpose of a behavioral skills program was the treatment of serious mental illness and not the teaching of “core life skills,” the Land Court rejected arguments that the program...more
A core principle of the California Coastal Act is to maximize public access to the coast, including recreational opportunities in the coastal zone. The Court of Appeal determined that the Coastal Commission acted within its...more
As municipalities assert more control over development, zoning bylaws become more complex. And as mechanics, programmers, and lawyers all know, when there are many parts, there are many more opportunities for things to go...more
Do 1,400 cattle and 17.4 million gallons of cow waste in open-air lagoons, upwind and a half a mile from a religious youth summer camp, impose a substantial burden? As unpleasant as a concentrated animal feed operation...more
In its decision in Berger v. 2 Wyndcliff, LLC, the Massachusetts Appeals Court answered an important question about extending common-scheme real estate restrictions beyond the presumptive statutory limit of 30 years. ...more
Week to week we blog about recent developments in the land use arena, which typically arise in the civil context. This week, we thought a recent “criminal” case decided by the Supreme Court, Appellate Term, Second...more
Aptos Council v. County of Santa Cruz ruling also clarifies CEQA "Piecemeal" Doctrine - The Sixth District Court of Appeal's recent decision in Aptos Council v. County of Santa Cruz provides useful California...more
On December 21, 2016, the Appellate Division, Second Department, rendered yet another decision whereby an appeal was dismissed “as academic” on the grounds that during the pendency of the appeal, the land use development...more
Anybody who practices land use law knows that it’s an arcane area with layers of local and state laws (and sometimes federal laws) baked into every proceeding. This is especially true for quasi-judicial zoning (QJZ)...more
In a published decision filed September 17, 2015, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s judgment granting a writ of mandate and finding that a proposed land exchange agreement was not statutorily...more