The City of Los Angeles was correct to revoke a building permit even though the permit holder had spent more than $200,000 on real estate and construction as a result of the city's advice and permit, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. >>read more

A land exchange between the State Lands Commission and the City of Long Beach to accommodate a retail development project has been thrown out by the Third District Court of Appeal. The court ruled that the state agency and the city violated the state law that permits the swapping of land covered by the tidelands public trust doctrine. >>read more

The state Supreme Court has accepted for review a California Environmental Quality Act case involving the water supply for a huge project in Sacramento County. >>read more

If an oil company wants to build a service station in California, it typically needs a permit from the local air pollution control agency, which has the authority to consider whether vapors released during fueling might harm neighbors. If the station is a big one and has been proposed for a vacant lot next to a day-care center, the oil company might never get that permit. >>read more

Developers suffered two losses during recent special elections. Voters in the fast-growing Riverside County city of Murrieta recalled the mayor and nearly threw out a second councilman. Meanwhile, the San Luis Obispo electorate rejected a 650,000-square-foot power center and the finance deal supporting the project. >>read more

The City of Berkeley and the University of California (UC) are at odds over a 15-year land use plan adopted earlier this year. The city contends that the UC plan burdens city-funded services and does not protect city desires regarding off-campus development. University officials defend the plan, saying that the school benefits the community in many ways and that the plan guarantees UC consultation with the city for any off-campus project. >>read more

Legislation that would permit certain redevelopment agencies to extend the life of redevelopment project areas has stalled for the year. Four Assembly bills hit a roadblock in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee when Chairman Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco) decided that a broader discussion of redevelopment time extensions was necessary.

When a development project straddles the coastal zone boundary, the Coastal Commission may not use its jurisdiction over the portion of the project within the coastal zone to influence development outside of the zone, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

West Sacramento appears to be a city whose time has come.

For many years before and after its incorporation in 1987, West Sacramento has been a manufacturing and logistic industry hub. While the Sacramento region has grown in recent decades, that growth has gone mostly east and south of Sacramento to suburbs such as Roseville, Folsom and Elk Grove. Meanwhile, West Sacramento - right across the Sacramento River from the capital city - bided its time. Now, developers have “discovered” the Yolo County city of 40,000 people. >>read more

Although I know little about Scottish history, I seriously doubt that the Scotsmen of the early 1400s who invented golf ever thought about the environmental impact their delightful new pastime would bring to the as-yet-undiscovered shores of California. Intent on whacking leather balls filled with feathers, those same 15th Century Scotsmen probably did not think that their seemingly innocent diversion from herding sheep would ever be the rationale behind something as weird as the Santaluz development in North San Diego County. >>read more

This month's selection of In Brief items includes: California awards $45 million to victims of 1997 Feather River levee break; Dept. of Water Resources releases draft of new California Water Plan; San Jose and Santa Clara County race to build a performing arts hall; Roadless areas in California's national forest will remain roadless; Local Indian Tribe to help Yolo County purchase farmland and habitat; and more...

Most government budget crises get bailed out by increasing tax revenue, and the current situation in California appears to be no exception. With tax receipts on the rise throughout California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was able to throw several billion dollars into the kitty as part of the "May revise" - the annual revision of the governor's budget proposal to the Legislature. >>read more

A new opinion issued by the state attorney general's office regarding housing elements appears to allow cities and counties to skirt their mandated fair-share housing numbers if the local government lacks the resources sufficient to provide the units. >>read more

The First District Court of Appeal has blocked a developer's request to collect from its courtroom opponents the cost of preparing the administrative record in a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit. >>read more