Articles

Regulations that require most new development to contain and treat stormwater runoff continue to advance at Regional Water Quality Control Boards for California's coastal urban areas. The regulations, however, have received mixed reviews from environmentalists and condemnation from the building industry.

An environmental group that sued the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection over environmental review of a North Coast timber harvest lost its chance to pursue the lawsuit because it did not request a hearing within a prescribed deadline.

The Bay Area town of Hercules has adopted a new plan that city officials hope will allow the town to capitalize on a unique asset: 400 acres of mostly vacant land, some of it with sweeping bay views, situated in the middle of town.

While finger-pointing and chest-thumping have been California politicians' most visible reactions to the latest version of the energy crisis, a few local governments are slowly emerging as leaders in addressing the new energy crisis. The most aggressive of these agencies are going beyond simple conservation programs and actually using their existing facilities as alternative energy power generating locations. And some are seeing that by being leaders in alternative energy production, they can gain com

Here is a twist on the familiar story of neighborhood groups negotiating with developers: The two sides did not limit their discussion to traffic congestion. On the table were a surprisingly wide array of social and environmental concerns, including hiring guarantees, wage levels, job safety and affordable housing.

A developer who lost his ownership interest in a piece of property had no standing to seek a court order forcing a county to recognize a 19th century subdivision of the property, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. A unanimous three-judge panel of the Second District, Division Six, overturned a trial court's writ of administrative mandamus in the case.

California is the land of wide-open spaces. And everybody moves here from the East Coast to get away from those big, crowded cities. Right? Not anymore. In some ways, California is just as crowded as � or maybe even more crowded than � the East Coast. And it's only going to become more so during the decades ahead.

Regional land use planning efforts appear to be gaining momentum in several portions of California, with San Diego County heading toward a potential "regional authority." Business interests, frustrated that no entity addresses many cross-jurisdictional issues, appear to be a major driver of the regional approaches.

The University of California is preparing for a tidal wave of new student enrollment in the next decade, and the question of where students will be housed is one that the university continues to grapple with.

So, who's on top — the planners or the developers? You would think the U.S. Supreme Court would know. This court, after all, was able to decide who the president should be. But after almost a quarter century of hearing land-use "takings" cases, the Supreme Court has provided no clear answer as to who rules at the planning counter.

WASHINGTON _ The U.S. Supreme Court's latest take on takings law is getting two cheers from landowners and property rights advocates and grudging acceptance from land use regulators and environmentalists.

A jury's award of $3 million to a Desert Hot Springs developer who sued the city for violating the Fair Housing Act has been reinstated by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.