In San Diego County, a dispute involving a long overdue application for a conditional use permit has resulted in the closure of a church that had been essentially squatting in a trailer park for over 25 years.
In the case of West Chandler Boulevard Neighborhood Association v. City of Los Angeles, the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, considered the validity of the City of Los Angeles' grant of a conditional use permit, height variance and parking variance to a Chabad of North Hollywood, which was operating a synagogue in a residential neighborhood within the city.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has aside a summary judgment in favor of a city in a dispute over a church's request to relocate and develop an expanded church facility in an industrial park.
The unanimous three-judge appellate panel ruled that District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton's decision in favor of the City of San Leandro was erroneous, and the Ninth Circuit sent the case back to the trial court for further proceedings. The Ninth Circuit did not rule on the merits of the case.
Even though the recession has brought construction in the Central Valley nearly to a standstill, one of the world's largest suppliers of building materials appears bullish on the region. Cemex Construction Materials, LP, has proposed an aggregate mine on a 2,036-acre site in Fresno County,inciting protest from both environmentalists and local Native American tribes.
A Santa Monica apartment complex owned by a religious group did not fall within a statutory exemption from local historic preservation regulations because the property has always been a commercial enterprise, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.
Divine purposes do not give developers a free pass to circumvent local zoning regulations.
The Second District Court of Appeal has ruled that Los Angeles County was entitled to a court order that prohibited a church from operating a school without a required conditional user permit.
The Sahag-Mesrob Armenian Church owns two parcels zoned R-1 (single-family residential) in the San Gabriel Valley. In May 2008, the church filed an application for a conditional use permit to operate an 800-student, K-12 school on the property. Four months later, the county received complaints that the school was operating in advance of the issuance of the conditional use permit and without California Environmental Quality Act review.
A federal law protecting religious institutions from land use regulations does not extend to a Masonic Temple operated for commercial purposes, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.
A settlement agreement between the City of Los Angeles and an Orthodox Jewish congregation that permits operation of a synagogue in a residential district has been invalidated by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Local regulation of religious land uses has become the latest battlefield in California development. There are at least seven lawsuits pending over government regulation of church development, proposed private schools, and the use of facilities by religious ministries. Lawsuits have been filed against the cities of Concord, Cypress, El Cajon, Los Angeles and Morgan Hill, and against Alameda County and the California Coastal Commission. Additional lawsuits appear likely in Sierra Madre and Hun
