Vol. 22 No. 03 Mar 2007

One of the most ambitious transit-oriented redevelopment projects in the state is taking shape in an unlikely location. Union City, a mostly working-class suburb just north of Fremont in Alameda County, is converting about 175 acres into a dense urban environment surrounding what city planners hope will become a regional transit hub. » read more | add to cart

The right combination of zoning changes and decreased parking requirements can make infill projects feasible in some of the state’s most urban settings. That is the conclusion of Solimar Research Group, which continues to investigate land use options for crowded urban areas. » read more | add to cart

The water supply analysis for one of the largest housing developments ever approved in the Central Valley has been rejected by the state Supreme Court. The court faulted the water study in the environmental impact report for the 20,000-unit Sunrise-Douglas community plan outside Sacramento because the study did not adequately describe long-term water sources and the impacts of using those sources. » read more | add to cart

Anaheim officials have sided with Disneyland and rejected SunCal’s neighboring development proposal; report by LAO says Indian casinos will not provide significant revenues for the state of California; Madera County settled with Indian tribe; the Bureau of Indian Affairs has approved a proposed landfill on a Colusa County Indian reservation; Seal Beach has repealed a ban on three-story houses in the Old Town area; and the ongoing redevelopment of the former George Air Force Base in Victorville receives a boost from Newell Rubbermaid.

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Voters in the northern Solano County city of Dixon will decide in April on a project that could change the nature of town: A horse racing track and entertainment center capable of handling events for up to 50,000 people, plus more than 1 million square feet of hotel, entertainment, retail and office development.

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A new joint powers authority has acquired 66 acres of coastal wetlands at the mouth of the San Gabriel River in Long Beach and Seal Beach, and may acquire at least 100 more acres in the near future. The Los Cerritos wetlands may provide the scene for the last major coastal wetlands restoration project in Southern California.

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California is full of prime infill development locations, but it’s also full of freeways. And more often than not, the two go together.

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A 100-year contract between a special district and a water bottling company that calls for the district to provide up to 1,600 acre-feet of water per year is not a project requiring environmental review, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled.

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An appellate court has ruled that a property owner that sold its property to a third party after the Temple City Redevelopment Agency had commenced eminent domain proceedings is entitled to litigation expenses.

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In issuing its second California Environmental Quality Act ruling in seven months, the conservative-leaning California Supreme Court is emerging as one of CEQA’s staunchest defenders. The latest decision — the rejection of an environmental impact report’s water analysis for a large Sacramento-area housing project — is the court’s first foray into such water studies, and the court appears to have set a high standard.

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