A legal battle between wealthy property owners on the shores of Lake Tahoe appears to have been won by a group wanting to build a new boat dock. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected all arguments against the proposed dock presented by the Glenbrook Homeowners Association and allied parties, and the court upheld the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's approval of the project. >>read more
A settlement agreement between the City of Malibu and a developer has been thrown out by the Second District Court of Appeal because the agreement limited the city's police powers and was improperly adopted in closed session. >>read more
With all the talk these days about New Urbanism in California these days, it is sometimes easy to overlook the old urbanists. These were planners of the 1950s and 1960s who worked in the context of urban renewal and Modernist architecture, trying to fight a rear-guard action against the rapid suburbanization of the time. >>read more
One of the most interesting phenomena of the urban-infill craze of recent years has been the conversion of industrial corridors, such as riverfronts and railroad tracks, into middle-class housing, "creative" office space and touristy retail. >>read more
Rep. Richard Pombo has been trying to revise the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) for nearly a decade, having been handed that seemingly Sisyphean task by the GOP leadership shortly after the party took control of Congress in 1994. The Tracy Republican has never made much headway in what he calls an effort to "improve"- critics typically substitute "cripple" or "gut" - one of the nation's key environmental laws. >>read more
From rural counties experiencing modest urbanization to California's fastest growing areas, regional transportation impact fees are being levied on new development. Nearly unheard of five years ago, the fees are bringing in hundreds of millions a year across the state for road work. >>read more
A developer that has fought a variety of government fees levied by numerous jurisdictions had its day in front of the state Supreme Court in October. But during an hour of oral argument, California's high court justices offered few hints of how they might rule. >>read more
A state appellate court has thrown out the environmental study for the Cal-Fed Bay-Delta Program. The Third District Court of Appeal found that the study failed to identify what water would be used to carry out the program, did not consider reduced exports of Delta water, and failed to provide known details of an "environmental water account."
A property owner's lawsuit against a San Francisco housing activist has been swatted down by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court found, essentially, that the First Amendment protected the activist's complaint about the property owners' plans. >>read more
