Vol. 18 No. 08 Aug 2003

A new report by the state auditor suggests that California’s brownfields program could be stronger. The state lacks an inventory of brownfields and even a definition of the term, which generally refers to abandoned industrial sites, gasoline stations and mines.

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In response to a new state law that mandates the easier regulatory processing of second units, cities and counties across California have been revising their regulations. Most jurisdictions are relaxing their rules, although some cities and counties appear to be adding performance standards that could discourage second-unit development.

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There is a certain kind of excitement — my guess is it is uniquely American — when cities reach a moment of transition, such as when a small city gets its first high-rise building. On the other end of the urban life cycle, another moment occurs when an aging downtown blooms with second-hand stores and ethnic delicatessens amid retirement homes and tattoo parlors.

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California State University is not required to fund mitigation measures that offset a new campus’s traffic and fire safety impacts, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

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A city that acquires land for two roads through eminent domain does not have to compensate the property owner for the growth-inducing impacts of the roads, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

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An appellate court has reinstated a Santa Monica Rent Control Board lawsuit against a landlord that a trial court had dismissed as a SLAPP suit. The lawsuit was the board’s legitimate attempt to get a judicial determination that the landlord was violating local rent control laws, the Second District Court of Appeal ruled.

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A Santa Barbara County property owner has been allowed to pursue a lawsuit alleging that the county violated his rights of free speech, equal protection and due process by giving him a hard time with proposed developments.

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Three years ago — back when California had money — Gov. Gray Davis came up with a clever idea to push more money into transportation projects in a way that would benefit his core political constituencies without raising taxes. Today, Davis’s Transportation Congestion Relief Program appears to be self-destructing, along with the entire system of funding state transportation projects.

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By percentage, Western Placer County’s growth rate is about the fastest of any area in California. And the cities of Roseville, Lincoln and Rocklin — and Placer County itself — are planning for numerous large developments with tens of thousands of housing units.

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Voters in the Contra Costa Water District will decide early next year whether to quadruple the capacity of five-year-old Los Vaqueros Reservoir in the hills east of Mount Diablo.
The reservoir expansion would increase water reliability and improve water quality but would not provide more water for growth, water district officials insist.

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