by William Fulton

Housing would be removed form the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and become its own entity. Transportation was removed from the business agency several years ago.

In a provocative ruling, an appellate court said that because federal law makes marijuana illegal, Santa Barbara County's approval of an easement to permit transportation of the substance cannot stand. 

The latest legal news in short bursts: Coastal Commission can't allow seawalls on projects built after 1976, ED1 revisions don't apply prospectively, and La Cañada Flintridge housing element appeal is moot.

City will get more funds to build infrastructure in Southeast Development Area. But the county will get a bigger slice of the pie elsewhere.

Appellate court rejected the idea that the hotel is too tall but agreed that fire protection is lacking. 

The Citywide Housing Incentive Program may be the most important zoning reform in L.A. in decades. But it still may not be enough.

Reversing a trial judge, an appellate court ruled that a seawall can be built to protect an apartment complex built in 1972 -- but not an adjacent condo building built in 1984, eight years after the Coastal Act was passed.

Controversial park project likely to move forward after appellate ruling found no merit in lawsuit from longtime community activist, who argued that the project description wasn't detailed enough and her own comments constituted sustantial evidence for an EIR.

State law has lots of definitions of infill and transit-oriented locations. As local governments increasingly use the infill exemption to get around environmental review, this is becoming a problem.

Split court concludes that the White House Council on Environmental Quality doesn't have the legal authority to issue regulations. Confusion among NEPA practitioners is likely.

In a case against a grocery store in King City brought by a union, the Sixth District Court of Appeal said that other infill definitions in the CEQA Guidelines do not apply to Class 32 exemptions.

Appellate court says that Lake County didn't adequate analyze the impact of a new resort on wildfire evacuation routes of current residents.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors changed a staff recommendation on new vineyards in the Santa Monica Mountains from heavy regulation to an outright ban. An appellate court concluded that the change was so small in the overall context of the area plan update that no further CEQA action was needed.

The second Trump Administration is likely to back off of zoning reform, environmental protection, and transit funding. Will the state's own laws and policies serve as a firewall against these changes?