So, redevelopment is back, sort of. How much of a difference it will make remains to be seen. \n Gov. Jerry Brown has signed AB 2 (Alejo), which permits cities to create tax-increment-based "Community Redevelopment Investment Authorities" (CRIA). It's more or less the same bill t

The University of California-Davis has laid out its "University of the 21st Century" to build $2 billion in graduate programs and a veterinary hospital in downtown Sacramento. The satellite campus would include two new schools, one focusing on population and global health and another a public policy institute, offering master's degree programs that could be expanded to undergraduate programs depending on demand, Chancellor Linda P.B.

The City of San Clemente must refund $10 million in beach parking impact fees accumulated over a 20-year period because it did not build parking facilities with the money nor make the necessary findings under the Mitigation Fee Act to retain the money for more than five years, th

The California Supreme Court is finally catching up on its backlog of cases interpreting the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Recently the justices moved along two cases related to the law's climate change implications. The bottom line, however, is that the list is ge

The California Transportation Commission has released staff recommendations  (pdf) for the awarding of up to $215 million in grants in Cycle 2 of its Active Transportation Program .

Just before Labor Day, Rick Caruso, the savvy real estate developer from Los Angeles, used the "Tuolomne Tactic" to end-run the California Environmental Quality Act in order to get a shopping center approved in Carlsbad . \n Which means the score is now one Walmart in Tuolomne Co

The California Coastal Commission and the Navy reached a settlement in the commission's lawsuit against a proposed redevelopment of the Navy's downtown waterfront property in San Diego, leaving just one more legal hurdle for the Navy to clear to build the $1.2 billion, 3.25 million square foot plan. The settlement came as project developer Doug Manchester made concessions including opting to build a 40,000 square foot museum across from the USS Midway Museum, pledging to make

About 80 years too late, the federal government has put real regulatory authority behind the duty of publicly funded agencies to "affirmatively further fair housing". It's being discussed as a genuine chance to desegregate the suburbs.  On July 8 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued its final rule on "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" (AFFH). Under the rule, state and local agencies receiving HUD funds must now do more than passively study ba

The Third District Court of Appeal has rejected several arguments that the laws eliminating redevelopment violate the California constitution. \n In a followup to California Redevelopment Association v. Matosantos , 53 Cal. 4th 231 (2011), the California Supreme Court ruling that

The intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Boulevard is under an evil spell.  Otherwise, I can't account for the two most questionable museum proposals to descend on the area formerly known as the Miracle Mile.

When the redevelopment system was dismantled in 2012, redevelopment leaders around the state feared that the state Department of Finance's desire for short-term cash would force a fire-sale of redevelopment assets that would drive prices down and undermine cities' ability to comp

Tuesday's California Supreme Court ruling in a CEQA case involving San Diego State lays down an important marker: State agencies can't claim that a mitigation measure is infeasible just because they didn't get a legislative appropriation to pay for it. It's the second time the Su