Three very controversial projects appear to have reached an end. The Auburn Dam has officially dried up. An Orange County toll road has reached a dead end. A Baldwin Park redevelopment deal has died.
Proposals to extend the life of redevelopment project areas for as long as 40 years continue to float around the state Capitol as part of a budget-balancing package. Meanwhile, the City of Industry, a likely proponent of the redevelopment extension, is moving ahead with a $500 million infrastructure bond to assist a football stadium.
Agreements approved by Riverside County and cities in the Coachella Valley in support of a multiple species habitat conservation plan did not violate a political corruption law, according to the state attorney general's office.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal has thrown out a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit filed by Riverside residents because of a procedural error.
Cities, counties and public water agencies have broad discretion over the way they conduct water supply assessments for development projects that rely on groundwater, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled.
WASHINGTON – Industry and environmental groups in California are awaiting a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that could determine how far the state's coastal power plants must go to reduce their fish-killing intake of ocean waters used to cool generating facilities.
No president in more than 40 years has been better positioned to reshape American urban policy than Barack Obama. But the new president faces three challenges in dealing with urban policy.
A referendum on a redevelopment plan for San Francisco's Bayview and Hunters Point districts will not appear on the ballot. The First District Court of Appeal upheld a Superior Court judge's ruling that referendum proponents violated elections law by not including a copy of the redevelopment plan in referendum petitions.
This month's roundup of land use news: SunCal places two more projects under bankruptcy protection; Desert Hot Springs finally gives up on a controversial resort development; Klamath River dams may crumble; Westlands Water District told to solve irrigation drainage problem; Caltrans launches policy plan website.
When Pasadena first began to transform its moribund downtown into Southern California's premier urban destination, neighboring Glendale took a more cautious approach to urban renewal, which is to say that it did very little.
But that's changing. Earlier this year, the city's Planning Department established it own Urban Design Studio with the intent of enhance existing urban character.
A Bush administration proposal to streamline the Endangered Species Act has met with stiff opposition from California environmentalists and state Attorney General Jerry Brown. A November letter signed by Senior Assistant Attorney General Ken Alex and Deputy Attorney General Tara Mueller to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accuses the agency of "flouting the public review process" as it rushes toward "a decision apparently already reached."
