Articles

Three bills that would have established "green" building standards for housing, commercial structures and state government buildings were vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor also vetoed a controversial planning bill that would have limited cities' ability to satisfy regional fair-share mandates with non-residentially zoned properties.

A water supply analysis for a proposed development in the Santa Clarita Valley has passed a California Environmental Quality Act test laid out earlier this year by the state Supreme Court. The Second District Court of Appeal ruled that the EIR for the West Creek project adequately addresses the likely availability of long-term water sources and the mitigation of a toxic pollutant in local wells.

Regional planning strategies are not necessarily compatible with local desires, especially when satisfying regional needs means putting a bunch more cars on already overburdened streets.

The creation of a "land bank" and the subsequent sale of mitigation credits within the bank is not subject to requirements of the Subdivision Map Act, according to the attorney general's office.

An appellate court has upheld the awarding of $200,000 for lost goodwill to a business owner whose shop was taken by the Inglewood Redevelopment Agency, even though the business had mostly lost money.

The requirement that two Antioch property owners dedicate land for a new highway bypass when they develop their property is constitutional, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled.

A billboard company may not bring a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit over the City of West Hollywood's amended sign ordinance, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.

A new environmental impact report is not required for a drastically modified high-rise project proposed in downtown Los Angeles, because there is substantial evidence that a 2005 addendum to a 1989 EIR was sufficient, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.

In a decision deferential to city officials, an appellate court has upheld the City of Vacaville's approval of an 860-acre project as compatible with the general plan. The decision also provides the first published ruling on the recently amended state density bonus law, which the court applies very broadly.

What a difference a year can make.

During the final days of the 2006 legislative session, a package of bills intended to force better coordination between flood control and land use planning in the Central Valley and Bay Delta region died amid a deluge of acrimony. This year, however, state lawmakers approved six bills similar to measures that failed last year.

Just as a well-aimed bowling ball can be expected to knock down all ten pins and boost a bowler to a top score, many planners believe that a well-written zoning ordinance can steer the housing market toward socially beneficial ends. There is a difference between a bowling lane, however, and a downtown area.

Playa Vista development in Los Angeles gets put on hold again, Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge tells city and UC to play nice, a San Luis Obispo landowner sues after winning approval to develop, State Auditor keeps busy with both good marks and ultimatums, and Glendale approves two residential towers downtown.

Only weeks after one round of relatively noncontroversial updates to the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines officially took effect, the Governor's Office of Planning and Research has been charged with a far more ambitious task: amending the Guidelines to account for global warming.

Morris Newman's June Deals column, "Disney Spins Negative Fantasia About Housing," is off the mark, citing misinformation and wrongly taking Disney to task on Anaheim housing issues. As the former director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and now as President and CEO of the Orange County Business Council (OCBC), I appreciate the opportunity to correct the record.