A state law that prohibits charter cities from receiving state funds for a public construction project if it allows the contractors to not pay prevailing wage has been upheld by a split appellate court.

In a split decision, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled that the City of Carson acted properly in denying the subdivision of a mobile home park because this change in ownership structure was inconsistent with the general plan by placing at risk wetlands within the park, which were reclaimed from contaminated oil friends and are called out in the open space element of the city's general plan.

In a 61-page opinion, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled that the Department of Fish & Wildlife's actions in managing coastal flooding around Lake Tolowa and Lake Earl in Del Norte County constituted a physical taking of the adjacent landowners' property.

The recent Brexit vote seemed a lot like the typical California NIMBY fight to me: Basically, a whole bunch of old white people who don’t like how society is evolving tried to shut the door, probably screwing their own children and grandchildren in the process.

Expanding Printing Operation OK As CEQA Baseline

Writing recently in Voice of San Diego , Maya Srikrishnan has documented what might be called – at least from my wizened perspective – the return of the coastal Southern California anti-growth initiative. In Del Mar, Costa Mesa, and Santa Monica – one coastal town in each SoCal coastal county – citizens have placed initiatives on this fall’s ballot to slow down growth or at least require that major projects must go before voters.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that The Presidio Trust can move forward with the construction of a 12-building complex commonly referred to as a "lodge" in the vicinity of the Main Parade Ground. In so doing, the court rejected arguments from the Sierra Club and a variety of historic preservation organizations that doing so would violate the Presidio Trust Act. The court also rejected the argument that the Presidio Trust's actions did not meet the consultation requirements contained in Section 110f of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Overturning the decision of a trial judge, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled that the City of Palm Springs’s decision to eliminate minimum residential densities from its general plan is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.

Yesterday's landmark ruling  by the California Supreme Court upholding San Jose's inclusionary housing ordinance was rightly hailed as a huge victory for affordable housing advocates. But the truth is that the ruling shouldn't be viewed as a surprise. It was a very difficult case for the building industry to win - at least the way the industry's lawyers has set the case up.

So, why does a court ruling on a medical marijuana ban in Upland affect the Chargers ability to build a new stadium in San Diego?

In the remand of the so-called “CEQA-In-Reverse” case , the First District Court of Appeal has ruled that the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s 2010 Toxic Air Contamination thresholds under CEQA “may not be used for the primary purpose envisioned by District, namely, to routinely assess the effect of existing environmental conditions on future users or occupants of a project.” The court found, in essence, that “Source” thresholds were okay, but “Receptor” thresholds were not because CEQA cannot be used to measure the impact of current environmental conditions on a new project. “We agree that conceptually, a proposed project that would itself worsen environmental conditions would be a source – but it would also be a receptor to the extent it brought users or occupants to the site.”  CBIA v. BAAQMD , No. A135335.

Throughout California, transit-oriented development (TOD) is the rage. Along the Gold Line in Los Angeles, a New Urbanist project appears to be rising out of the ground at every stop. High-rise condominium buildings are emerging adjacent to light-rail stops in downtown San Diego and radiating out of downtown San Jose. BART stations in the East Bay - such as the Pleasant Hill BART stop - have become magnets of high-density development in formerly low-density suburbs.