Articles

One of the most ambitious transit-oriented redevelopment projects in the state is taking shape in an unlikely location. Union City, a mostly working-class suburb just north of Fremont in Alameda County, is converting about 175 acres into a dense urban environment surrounding what city planners hope will become a regional transit hub.

The right combination of zoning changes and decreased parking requirements can make infill projects feasible in some of the state's most urban settings. That is the conclusion of Solimar Research Group, which continues to investigate land use options for crowded urban areas.

The water supply analysis for one of the largest housing developments ever approved in the Central Valley has been rejected by the state Supreme Court. The court faulted the water study in the environmental impact report for the 20,000-unit Sunrise-Douglas community plan outside Sacramento because the study did not adequately describe long-term water sources and the impacts of using those sources.

A proposal to develop what amounts to a 5,000 housing-unit new town in the foothills of Yuba County is advancing, but the project still faces numerous hurdles.

A real estate company's purchase at a tax sale of townhouses owned by the Los Angeles County Housing Authority is not valid, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.

The apportionment of lots in a subdivision is not an "exaction" under the Mitigation Fee Act, a state appellate court has ruled.

The City of Poway did not conduct an adequate hearing before issuing tax-exempt bonds for the purchase of a mobile home park, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

The state attorney general cannot recover fees under the Code of Civil Procedure's "private attorney general" provision, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled in a Tehama County case involving the Subdivision Map Act and the Williamson Act.

A California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit over the City of Fresno's move to metered water rates has been dismissed because attorneys missed a deadline.

The City of Alameda's approval of a development and disposition agreement (DDA) with a developer for restoration of an historic theater and construction of a new theater and parking structure was a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. The ruling was a loss for historic preservation advocates who did not challenge the City of Alameda's environmental review of the DDA when the city approved the study.

The City of Fresno's policy of not requiring mitigations for developments' impact on state highways is illegal, according to the Fifth District Court of Appeal.

A controversial water project gets approved in Sacramento County while in the city of Sacramento, a property tax increase is approved to improve flood safety. The LA City Council has approved a master plan for revitalizing the Los Angeles River, Fresno Co

Local governments in the Central Valley are starting to adopt policies that require developers to mitigate the conversion of farmland to urban uses, primarily by acquiring agricultural easements or paying in-lieu fees. San Joaquin County has become a hotbed for the new policies, and farmland advocates are hoping to export those policies to other places.

A few weeks ago, I attended an Urban Land Institute event dedicated to hyping Los Angeles's newfound urbanity. It was a panel discussion on the windy roof of an old office building at 3801 Wilshire Boulevard, just across Western Avenue from the historic Wiltern Theater and catty-corner to the Red Line stop at Wilshire and Western.