Two decisions by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal appear to bolster local rent control ordinances, although the decisions at least hint at the court's doubt as to whether the state's system for weighing landowners' takings claims is adequate. In separate cases, the Ninth Ci

The City of San Jose did not have to prepare a supplemental environmental impact report for the proposed expansion of a water recycling program because an earlier EIR adequately addressed the issues, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed

In a decision with separate opinions written by all three members of an appellate panel, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a preliminary injunction to block logging on burnt national forest land. The panel ruled 2-1 that opponents of the logging had crossed the t

An initiative passed by Burbank voters that sought to restrict the expansion of Burbank Airport has been struck down by the Second District Court of Appeal. The unanimous three-judge appellate panel ruled that the State Aeronautics Act gives legislative authority for airport expa

The Sixth District Court of Appeal has allowed a Santa Clara County landowner to exclude his property from a subdivision approved in 1970. The exclusion was permitted by a rarely used provision of the Subdivision Map Act.

A federal appeals court has rejected two Sacramento-area cities' challenge of Interior Department decisions that resulted in the development of an Indian casino. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia ruled that the Interior Department acted within the mean

An appellate court has decided to allow Caltrans to transfer 130 acres near Carmel for use as a state park despite a constitutional provision prohibiting the sale of Caltrans property for less than market value. The court ruled that a constitutional exception for property in the

An appellate court has given the City of Alameda new life in a lawsuit over the city's attempt to acquire railroad property for far less than market value. The First District Court of Appeal overturned a trial court ruling that a nearly 80-year-old contract between the city and t

An appellate court has published its opinion of what belongs in the administrative record for a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuit. The decision is the second opinion published in the second half of 2003 that addresses directly the contents of the administrative

A lawsuit contesting the environmental study for the Cal-Fed Bay-Delta project may proceed, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The three-judge appellate panel overturned a district court that ruled the lawsuit was filed too early and threw it out.

A redevelopment agency may sue a landowner to force cleanup of contaminated property within a redevelopment project area, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court further held that the redevelopment agency need not have expended resources on the cleanup before fil

A state law that requires developers of housing within the coastal zone to provide low- and moderate-income units does not apply in instances where all of the actual dwelling units are built outside the zone.