When voters approved the incorporation of Elk Grove in Sacramento County in early 2000, the town had a population of about 54,000. Today, Elk Grove's population is heading past 140,000, and the city is looking at a 13,900-acre area for potential expansion.
Should planning departments in California force developers to steer clear of fire-prone areas? Or should building departments force developers to fireproof their neighborhoods instead?
The state Supreme Court has modified its most recent California Environmental Quality Act ruling, but it rejected the losing side's request for a re-hearing.
Local zoning trumps a valid easement, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. In a case from Los Angeles, the court determined that one property owner's easement on his neighbor's property was valid but unenforceable because it violated the zoning.
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.
A state law that permits landlords to go out of the rental business does not trump the California Environmental Quality Act, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.
A San Diego merchant who has become one of the state's leading fighters against eminent domain has not only lost his appeal of a trial court decision upholding the taking of his shop, but he has also lost a $9 million award of compensation and attorneys' fees.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a mobile home park owner's attempt to invalidate San Luis Obispo County's mobile home rent control ordinance.
In the face of never-ending demand for housing and concerns about eroding the job base, some cities are imposing regulations to protect their industrial lands.
