Articles

City Council declines to approve 9,000-acre SEDA expansion. Mayor Dwyer proposes pared-down first phase. 

But San Diego is a surprise, with significant population increase -- especially in the City of San Diego

Mountain View approves 15-story project but Menlo Park and Beverly Hills resist.

Measure would reduce allowable new housing below the target required by the city's Housing Element.

But California law is likely to control regulation in the state -- at least on private land. Federal land is another story.

The 682-unit project was declared exempt from CEQA and apparently met the city's objective design standards. The city council voted against it anyway.

City backed off of appeal after judge ordered that a $14 million bond be posted. 

A pair of measures passed in Sausalito and the more ambitious of two housing measures passed in Santa Cruz

Proposed 2026 ballot measure would create two categories of projects: "essential projects" subject to tighter timelines and other projects subject to current law. 

This year's CEQA reform will put more pressure on cities and counties to bulletproof their housing element EIRs. But it also creates a much "cleaner" exemption for infill housing than was previously available. 

Most bills have to do with housing, seeking to further sweep away regulations that restrict housing approvals. One new law would subject cities to attorney's fees and additional fines if they violate housing reform laws. 

The California Chapter of the American Planning Association presented 27 awards  in 14 categories at the state conference last week.