The best method for setting the proper baseline in a CEQA document still remains a matter of debate. For the project opponents, the payoff is often big if they can convince a court that the wrong baseline was used, as the ensuing analysis is all keyed to the baseline. If the wrong baseline is used, then the balance of the CEQA evaluations is upset. Citizens for East Shore Parks v. California State Lands Commission, the last CEQA decision for 2011, involves one of those baseline challenges. 

The Second Appellate District tackled several technical but important legal considerations in Ballona Wetlands Land Trust v. City of Los Angeles, including that of whether a lead agency must analyze the impact of the environment on the project. 

Last year, the San Diego Association of Governments released the state's first Sustainable Communities Strategy, which Senate Bill 375 requires of California's metropolitan planning organizations. SANDAG officials hailed the SCS, coupled to its Regional Transportation Plan, as a bold step towards reducing sprawl and meeting the per capita emissions reductions targets that the California Air Resources Board had set. 

Not so fast, say a group of opponents, including a coalition of environmental groups and Attorney General Kamala Harris.

For now, redevelopment in California is dead. But that hasn't eliminated the need for public policy to support urban revitalization. Indeed, Gov. Jerry Brown still supports aggressive policies in this vein – for example, implementing the SB 375 regional planning law passed in 2008 as part of the climate change effort, and streamlining environmental review for infill projects.

San Diego politicians and land-use officials have become polarized over an unusual controversy pitting one of the city's largest private employers against an apartment developer in the city's downtown area. At issue is whether the proposed Fat City development in the Little Italy neighborhood threatens the operations of nearby Solar Turbines. 

On the occasion of redevelopment's demise in California, CP&DR editor Josh Stephens caught up with Jim Kennedy, the interim executive director of the California Redevelopment Association. Kennedy has been on the front lines of the unsuccessful effort to win CRA vs. Matosantos and, since the Dec. 29 Supreme Court ruling, has been lobbying for legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown to extend the Feb. 1 deadline for dissolution while also helping member agencies prepare for the worst. >>read more