Apparently a city can delegate final approval of its housing element to the city manager – and not hold a final public hearing – so long as the final changes as a result of negotiating with the Department of Housing and Community Development are relatively minor.

Carlsbad’s growth management plan – dating from the 1980s – is often held up as a model of integrating private residential growth with public infrastructure. (It’s even highlighted in Guide To California Planning.) Times have changed in the last 40 years and local growth control advocates say the Carlsbad City Council has not stuck to the spirit of the initiative. But the growth control folks keep losing in court.

This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to  California Planning & Development Report . You can subscribe to  CP&DR  by clicking  here . You can sign up for  CP&DR ’s free weekly newsletter  here . Los Angeles Extends Adaptive Reuse Policy Citywide Los Angeles will expand its adaptive reuse policy, allowing office and commercial buildings to be converted into housing citywide, per a unanimous vote of the City Council. Previously, these conversions we

As the Legislature prepares to convene in January, another round of changes to the California Environmental Quality Act seems likely. The question is whether the 2026 changes will be incremental – clarifying, among other things, some of the “Swiss-cheese” holes punched in CEQA in 2025 – or whether someone in the Legislature will attempt a more comprehensive attempt at reform.

Huntington Beach has lost around round in its seemingly endless legal battle with the state over housing law. The California Supreme Court has declined to hear a case in which the city argued it doesn’t have to follow state housing law because it’s a charter city.

Nearly five million Californians live in high fire hazard severity zones, and the year’s disasters in Los Angeles County are only the most recent examples of just how severe California’s wildfires can be. For planners in the hundreds of cities and counties that touch on the wildlands-urban interface, fire hazard planning, via safety elements and other initiatives, is literally a life-or-death matter. Meanwhile, firefighting agencies face increasing urgency to fight and preven

This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to  California Planning & Development Report . You can subscribe to  CP&DR  by clicking  here . You can sign up for  CP&DR ’s free weekly newsletter  here . San Francisco to Upzone Least-Dense Neighborhoods through "Family Zoning" Plan The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 to adopt the Family Zoning Plan, which will allow taller and more dense buildings particularly in the residential north and west

A few blocks south on Grand Avenue from Bunker Hill a titanium dagger protrudes over the sidewalk. The blade captures the sunlight and hints at something terribly interesting, beckoning you to walk closer and find out about the carcass into which it is plunged.

A local judge has ruled that the City of Dublin should have conducted an environmental analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act before placing a measure on the ballot that would permit development in an area previous protected under the city’s Open Space Initiative.

This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to  California Planning & Development Report . You can subscribe to  CP&DR  by clicking  here . You can sign up for  CP&DR ’s free weekly newsletter  here . 1.2 Million Acre Amargosa Basin National Monument Proposed in Inyo County A nonprofit group based in the desert town of Shoshone, California in Inyo County has formed  to propose a 1.2 million-acre Amargosa Basin National Monument. The proposed monument, wh

CP&DR Vol. 40 No. 11 November 2025 Report

This article is brought to you courtesy of the paying subscribers to  California Planning & Development Report . You can subscribe to  CP&DR  by clicking  here . You can sign up for  CP&DR ’s free weekly newsletter  here . San Diego Prevails in Five-Year Legal Battle over Tax Measure Five years after its approval by voters, litigation over San Diego's Measure C hotel tax has concluded with California's Fourth District Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the measure. Plaintif