by William Fulton

San Diego judge rules that Santee couldn't end-run a voter referendum by repealing approval and then passing an emergency ordinance moving the project forward. SB 330 was no help.

The governor has a new infill housing initiative that includes a proposal to use housing as CEQA mitigation. But this play is only partly about housing. It's mostly about getting transportation projects adequately mitigated under SB 743. 

Neighbors have challenged in the project, located along a high-rise corridor, in two different lawsuits -- one challenging the city's application of an eldercare zoning deviation and the other challenging the city's use of a Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment. So far the church is winning.

The city bought the theater to avoid sale to an evangelical church. That set up an explosion of litigation -- which the city is winning and the church is losing.

A nearby office-building owner challenged the infill exemption on a condo project, claiming rare species were in the vicinity. In a case of dueling biologists, the Court of Appeal ruled that the species weren't rare enough to qualify.

In case challenging Flower Growers high-rise proposal, court finds that city properly adopted Appendix G as its CEQA checklist.

The state's environmental agencies may be insulated from the new ruling stripping federal administrative agencies of power -- and they're picking up the slack. But do they have the capacity and expertise to do the job?

With the Capitol Annex project, the Legislature punches another hole in CEQA -- this time to move its own office building along. 

Even though part of the medical center's Parnassus Heights expansion was for business purposes, the university is still covered because it is pursuing its educational mission.

Appellate court strikes down Anti-SLAPP motion, opening the door for an inverse condemnation lawsuit. Meanwhile, litigation over builder's remedy application continues.

In allowing People's Park housing project to go forward, high court defers to the Legislature's action to override a lower court ruling that drunken noisy students can be a significant impact under CEQA.

But Newsom's cuts -- and the reorganization proposal -- are being opposed by legislative leaders. 

Limited-growth group's lawsuit against Expo Line Plan tossed out for being filed too early. But appellate court also said Expo Line Plan doesn't violate the Los Angeles General Plan's policy encouraging adequate infrastructure.