Alameda County City of Livermore Voters rejected the Citizens Alliance for Public Planning (CAPP) initiative that would have required an election for a development of more than 20 units. Measure B: No, 61.5% City of Pleasanton Voters defeated the CAPP initiative that would have mandated an election for a development with at least 10 units. Measure D: No, 56.4% City of Newark Voters defeated an initiative that would have changed the general plan designation of 560...

Despite five years of negotiation with state housing officials, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has rejected a proposed housing element that would permit the county to reach its affordable housing goals largely through the unprecedented use of "granny flat" policies. At its core, the dispute between the notoriously slow-growth county and the state is a stark example of two competing philosophies about affordable housing. Within the context of longstanding growth restrictions, count...

An environmental group that sued a company over alleged violations of the Clean Air Act has been denied attorneys' fees by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The unanimous three-judge panel — which included retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White, sitting by assignment — said that in cases where the government eventually does take action, such as this one, a private party is not entitled to receive its court costs. In November 1995, The Montana Coalition for Health, Environmen...

Like a powerful winter swell, political action related to California's treasured coastline is generating waves in halls of local government, the capitol and even courtrooms these days. Political, environmental, and economic development interests are combining forces to create some of the most intensive changes to coastal planning since the passage of the Coastal Act in 1972. Even cities that are many miles inland could feel the effects of this beach-protection movement. Perhaps t...

Less than a week after voters decided nearly 20 growth-related ballot measures, an attorney for a developer who lost an election last January made its case to the Second District Court of Appeal. The lawyer for Costa Mesa-based Messenger Development argued that a referendum over a 3,200-home development in the City of Moorpark was illegal. During a January special election, Moorpark voters overturned their City Council's approval of Hidden Creek Ranch, a subdivision proposed inside Moorpark'...

In an off-year election that surprised many observers, slow-growth advocates lost battles in some surprising places, but they also claimed victories in some pro-growth cities. Most importantly, voters in the East Bay cities of San Ramon, Pleasanton and Livermore rejected the Citizens Alliance for Public Planning initiatives that would have put on future ballots all but the tiniest of developments. And, in the first test of a Ventura County SOAR growth restriction, the electorate approved rezoni...

"I don't have to talk to you," the developer says to the public official. "I have the right to build whatever I want, wherever I want it." How many developers, exhausted or hamstrung by local government, have longed to say those words? And how can local government respond, when a developer actually does say those words to them — with the full support of federal law? As it turns out, at least one group of developers in California actually can say those words, and back them up: Na...

The Fourth District Court of Appeal has sided with the County of Los Angeles in its tug of war with the City of Long Beach over the setting of base year property values in a redevelopment area. The court concluded that the tax assessment role in place when Long Beach approved the redevelopment plan contained the base year property values. The court rejected Long Beach's argument that the base year values should reflect the lowering of some property values by the county's own Assessment Appeals Board. ...

A landowner may sue the City of Huntington Beach for a temporary taking because of city delays in adopting a Local Coastal Plan and zoning for the property, the Fourth District Court of Appeals has ruled. The city argued that the takings claim of the Mills Land & Water Company was not ripe because Mills never sought a final determination regarding the permissible type and intensity of development. But the appellate court ruled that "[t]he city had an obligation to get its LCP in place within a reason...

As more large development proposals rely on water transfers to meet expected urban needs, the complexity of such transfers becomes apparent. Water transfers can engender strong opposition, especially from people in the area that would lose the water, and sizeable water transfers continue to hit major snags. At least four giant development projects, several Central Valley cities, and one Southern California water agency intend to siphon water from farmland to new homes and businesses. But all...

The future of the El Toro Marine Corps base in Orange County remains as clouded as ever, with voters likely to decide in March on an initiative that could doom a commercial airport proposed for the site. A 3-2 majority on the Orange County Board of Supervisors continues to push ahead plans for an international airport at El Toro, located in and adjacent to the City of Irvine. But the Safe and Healthy Communities initiative would require two-thirds of voters to approve a new airport. Further ...

A Stanislaus County superior court judge appears to have cleared the way for housing construction at the controversial Diablo Grande development in the hills west of Interstate 5, near Patterson. Judge Donald Shaver said Stanislaus County may permit construction that would be served by water sources that have been "fully and adequately reviewed under CEQA." Project proponents contend the Oct. 1 ruling allows them to pursue the first phase of the project, which amounts to 2,000 homes, two go...

An appellate court has blocked from the ballot an initiative that seeks to overturn a 1997 ballot measure that approved partial public financing for a new San Francisco 49ers football stadium and amended the city's zoning ordinance to allow the stadium and an adjacent shopping mall. (See CP&DR Economic Development, July 1997.) Stadium opponents gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot an initiative that would overturn the 1997 measures. The 49ers sued and San Francisco Superior ...

Valery Pilmer, a former San Bernardino County land use services director, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of stealing a public document. Under the plea agreement with the county district attorney's office, Pilmer was sentenced to 300 hours of community service and retired from county employment effective October 15. Pilmer was indicted earlier this year on four felony counts relating to hiding, altering or destroying public records and lying about it in a sworn statement. The charges stem f...