Resident concerns about the social and psychological impact associated with the conversion of a horse-boarding facility to a 12-lot subdivision do not constitute a "community character" issue requiring an environmental impact report, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

Steve Jobs. That's the only reference to Apple's ubiquitous founder that this review will include. In Geography of Genius, journalist Eric Weiner does the world a favor by reminding us that there are, and have been, other greats who deserve the mantle of genius. Taken seriously, "Geography of Genius" is a troubling book, lauding a scant few individuals throughout history who, by a combination of talent, relative privilege, and good fortune qualify as "geniuses." Fortunately, we don't have to take it that seriously. Its strength and weakness that it is not a rigorous scholarly review but rather a romp through human achievement - and the cities where it has taken place. Organized chronologically, each chapter travels to a different city and investigates a different type of genius, spanning some 3,000 years. There's a fun, parlor-game quality to anticipation, both of what city will come next and of what might qualify as "genius" for Weiner.

Five years ago, metropolitan regions across California started implementing what is arguably the most significant statewide land-use and transportation policy to come along in generations: Senate Bill 375.

An appellate court has refused a developer’s request to order the City of Sebastopol to approve an environmental impact report on which the city began work in 2001.

Following Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing of two new climate change bills last week, state officials have released two short white papers laying out possible approaches for hitting the targeted 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The papers are a starting point for the Air Resources Board’s new Scoping Plan on GHG reduction strategies.

If there's anything more confusing than one regional government bureaucracy, it's two regional government bureaucracies.

A new set of recommendations for implementing SB 743  - which would require traffic analysis to be based on vehicle miles traveled -- proposes moving many proposed significance thresholds from the legally binding CEQA guidelines to a technical advisory memo. These recommendations also call for stricter thresholds on the so-called "regional averages" and provide simpler methodologies for dealing with safety issues. The thresholds of significance are important because they often trigger an environmental impact  report.

BEVERLY HILLS, May 2, 2016 - As the saying goes, when you're holding a hammer, the world looks like a nail. What if you have a 3-D printer instead of a hammer?

Last week's unanimous, finely worded ruling by the California Supreme Court has spared builders their worst-case scenario in the long-awaited "CEQA in Reverse" case. It does not interpret the California Environmental Quality Act to require an environmental impact report whenever a project might attract more people within range of an existing hazard such as air pollution or earthquake risk.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a trial judge and ruled that the City of Yuma's refusal to approve an upzoning might constitute a disparate racial impact under the federal Fair Housing Act.

Since Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement a few weeks ago, he has been hailed - and reviled - as the Court's "great liberal voice" of the past couple of decades. But especially in land use, Stevens' legacy rests with not only his ardent support of government regulatory power, but also his skill in mustering five votes, on a pretty conservative court, in favor of aggressive use of land use regulation. President Obama's choice to replace Stevens will undoubtedly be "liberal" - but it remains to be seen whether this replacement will be as skilled at building majorities in land use cases.