Fresno County supervisors adopted a contentious update to the general plan, paving the way for significant development along the Kings and San Joaquin Rivers
But in a mixed bag of ballot measures on the March ballot, Santa Cruz shot down a slow-growth policy in the downtown, while Chico defeated two ballot measures that would have permitted a new development, and Mountain House voters OK'd cityhood.
In the latest ruling against a municipality, a Los Angeles judge said La Cañada Flintridge must move forward with a builder's remedy project because -- in his judgment -- the city did not have a compliant housing element when it refused to process the project. It's one of two lawsuits against the city on the same project.
Recent rulings from the high-profile cities of Berkeley and Beverly Hills got a lot of publicity. But less publicized settlement agreements from Davis and Clovis show just how scared cities are getting about housing litigation.
After losing in appellate court and with a trial looming, the Fresno-area city reaches a wide-ranging settlement agreement including upzoning, inclusionary housing, a housing trust fund, and more.
Four lots in Los Osos were already on local water and sewer. San Luis Obispo County approved creating three new lots that already had sewer laterals and water meters. But the Coastal Commission said no and, in an unpublished ruling, an appellate court has agreed.
City agrees to move project forward without required vote, while developer agrees to increase affordable housing from 20% to 25% of project and agree to an EIR.
The City of Berkeley got hammered in court for violating SB 35 and the HAA by denying a project to be built on a parking lot on Native American shellmound property. Now the city has to pay the developer $2.6 million -- plus attorneys fees.
