Creative Reuse: The Opportunities and Challenges of Converting Office Space to Residential
California CRE to Expand in 2022
On November 22, 2024, the First District Court of Appeal’s (Div. 4) partially-published opinion in People of the State of California ex rel. Bonta v. County of Lake (Lotusland Investment Holdings, Inc., et al. Real Parties in...more
On September 19, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom approved Assembly Bill (AB) 2243 (Wicks), which amends AB 2011 (Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022), effective January 1, 2025. As explained in our prior legal...more
The Sixth District Court of Appeal filed on July 24, and later certified for publication on August 6, 2024, its opinion in Center for Biological Diversity et al. v. County of San Benito, et al. (2024) __ Cal.App.5th __. The...more
2023 served up roughly the same number of published appellate CEQA cases as 2022 with a defense win percentage of over 80 percent, which has been the case in many, if not all, of the past ten years. A prominent theme of...more
The 2023 legislative session culminated in Governor Newsom signing dozens of land use bills. This post discusses the most important. The Legislature continued its multifaceted approach to addressing the housing crisis, with...more
A recent court decision provides guidance to lead agencies seeking to comply with CEQA requirements related to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In Tsakopoulos Investments, LLC v. County of Sacramento, the Third District Court...more
On July 1, 2023, Senate Bill (SB) 6 (Caballero) – also known as the Middle Class Housing Act of 2022 – went into effect. Under the bill, if a project site is currently zoned for commercial retail or parking use, a developer...more
AB 2011 (Wicks) provides for “by right” streamlined ministerial (i.e., no CEQA) approval of qualifying mixed-income and affordable housing projects along commercial corridors in commercial zoning districts. This new law is...more
As in previous years, the California Legislature enacted a large volume of housing production laws in the 2022 session, some of which may have a significant effect on housing production in 2023. ...more
The enactment of special CEQA streamlining legislation for the Sacramento Kings arena nearly a decade ago created a model for a series of mega-project specific bills, all aimed at reducing the development uncertainty and the...more
With Marin County’s Mt. Tamalpais often considered the birthplace of mountain biking, it should not be surprising that the County finds itself at the forefront of California’s battle over multi-use trail access and...more
A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Under the California Environmental Quality Act - The year 2019 saw several trailblazing opinions, indicating that courts continue to grapple with some of CEQA’s core policies. The...more
In an opinion originally filed on July 31, and belatedly ordered published on August 22, 2019, the Second District Court of Appeal (Division 3) affirmed a judgment granting a CEQA writ petition invalidating the final EIR and...more
• Sacramentans for Fair Planning v. City of Sacramento is a case of first impression holding that cities and counties may continue to rely on the streamlined environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act...more
On July 18, 2019, in Sacramentans for Fair Planning v. City of Sacramento, __ Cal.App.5th __ (2019), the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court decision denying a “vertical” consistency challenge filed by...more
In a 30-page opinion originally filed July 3, and certified for publication on July 18, 2019, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying a writ petition challenging, on zoning law and CEQA...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
In a lengthy opinion filed February 22, and belatedly ordered published on March 25, 2019, the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 1) affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying a petition for writ of mandate challenging the...more
A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Under the California Environmental Quality Act - The California Supreme Court issued its only CEQA opinion of 2018 at the end of the year. In Sierra Club v. County of Fresno, the...more
A court of appeal has overturned a city’s mitigated negative declaration for a small mixed-use development in a historic overlay district, holding that aesthetic and traffic issues require the preparation of an environmental...more
A few recent developments and upcoming events in the CEQA world bear quick mention: The BART Housing Bill: Under AB 2923, BART now has limited land use regulation authority on its own lands near its stations....more
Land Use Matters provides information and insights into legal and regulatory developments, primarily at the Los Angeles City and County levels, affecting land use matters, as well as new CEQA appellate decisions. ...more
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development - In a published opinion issued February 28, 2018, Covina Residents for Responsible Development v. City of Covina, Case No. B279590, the Court of...more
In an opinion filed July 16, and belatedly ordered published on August 9, 2018, the First District Court of Appeal (Division 5) affirmed the trial court’s judgment setting aside the City of Fremont’s approvals of a mixed...more
Parking impacts (as distinguished from secondary impacts related to parking) associated with infill development in transit priority areas are exempt from environmental review under certain circumstances, a California...more