The Los Angeles Department of City Planning launched the Missing Middle LA program to expand housing options by making it easier to build smaller, neighborhood-scale homes such as accessory dwelling units, duplexes, townhomes, and other “missing middle” housing types across the city’s residential zones

The Ventura panel of the Second District Court of Appeal has issued two unpublished opinions, both favoring a city in Ventura County over claims made by local residents and property owners.

An attempt to challenge the Density Bonus Law and L.A.'s ED1 in federal court on constitutional grounds failed.

Building Industry Association's argument that nexus study numbers don't add up.

Los Angeles City Planning has launched the Development Services Bureau, designed to streamline planning and zoning reviews and improve customer experience

In a case from Tiburon, an appellate court said future housing projects are not "reasonably foreseeable".

Seemingly since the invention of the elevator, critics of growth in California have warned of “Manhattanization,” as if the adoption of liberal zoning policies could instantly result in a thicket of high-density towers. Thus far, that fate has not befallen any cities. But due to a recent confluence of new laws and economic conditions, high-rises are being proposed, approved, and built in some unusual places.

Glendale Reverses Course on Rejection of By-Right Project The Glendale City Council is set to rescind its October 2025 decision to reject a large housing and mixed-use development at the former Sears site at 236 N. Central Avenue after state officials warned that the denial violated California’s Housing Accountability Act.

Judge Sides With Developers On Preliminary Application Timing A Santa Clara County judge has ruled that developers are entitled to a new 90-day extension under the Housing Crisis Act every time a city or county rules that a development application is incomplete.

CP&DR Vol. 41 No. 1 January 2026 Report

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The passage of AB 130 and SB 131 – the budget trailer bills from last summer – has shifted the landscape for planning in California in new ways. And although the impetus for these shifts came from the state’s desire to encourage more housing, there are pros and cons for both local governments and housing developers from the deal.