Articles

In the face of never-ending demand for housing and concerns about eroding the job base, some cities are imposing regulations to protect their industrial lands.

Spurred by a land use plan intended to remove Pacific Lumber Company from bankruptcy, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors is moving toward adopting policies that would limit residential development on land zoned for timber production.

The Manteca City Council offers a time extension on permits and fee deadlines to developers, Wal-Mart's impact on global warming is questioned in Perris, the Dyer Mountain project in Lassen County has been approved but expected to be put on hold, and the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley has released the first of their annual reports on the state of the valley.

Growth management has been a nearly untouchable topic in the state capital since the 1980s. Only a handful of lawmakers and administration officials have been willing to discuss growth management, and then only indirectly.

The State of California needs a better system for determining how much it pays for resource conservation lands, the Legislative Analyst's Office concluded in a lengthy report issued in October. Although the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) does not say directly that the state has overpaid when it bought forests, wetlands, beaches, habitat and open space, the implication is easy to draw.

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.