Although it's city has been in the redevelopment business since 1948, San Francisco has recently created its largest redevelopment project area. The new, 1,300-acre Bayview Hunters Point project might also be the most controversial redevelopment project in a city where land use planning and development are always contentious.

I mean no disrespect to the developers of Liberty Station when I suggest that they would have to go out of their way to screw up this elegantly organized project. >>read more

Voters in three Bay Area counties have the opportunity in November to cement in place existing policies that steer nearly all growth to cities and away from unincorporated territory. Measures in Contra Costa and Solano counties appear to face limited opposition, but an initiative that would increase parcel sizes and require voters to decide rezoning of some agricultural land and hillsides in Santa Clara County appears to be drawing stiffer protests. >>read more

Building homes around publicly accessible lakes may be the new gold mines in California's Sierra Nevada foothills. The unincorporated community of Copperopolis in western Calaveras County has just such a water feature in Lake Tulloch, and, not surprisingly, the area is experiencing a growth boom.

Two San Bernardino County deals go public while a judge rules their flood control easements no longer exist. In Kern County, a federal court lawsuit stems from banned sewer sludge. Conflict of interest allegations result in the arrest of recalled Murrieta mayor and the firing of Siskiyou County Planning Director. In San Mateo, voters will not decide the fate of Bay Meadow's horsetrack, nor will Monterey County see a referendum of a proposed development in November. >>read more

Home prices are flattening out. Interest rates are going up. Foreclosures are at their highest rate in years. The real estate boom is clearly over. But does that mean California's high-density/infill/mixed-use boom is over as well? >>read more

The Coastal Act does not protect views of the coast from off-shore locations, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. In a case from San Luis Obispo County, the court ruled that the Coastal Commission did not have authority to require that a proposed house be relocated and downsized to protect the views of boaters and surfers. >>read more

A mitigated negative declaration for a never-built project cannot be used for a subsequent, similar project proposed for the same site, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled. >>read more

Property owners who received an $850,000 loan from the Carson Redevelopment Agency must return the money because they acquiesced to the mayor's demand for a $75,000 bribe, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. >>read more

The state Supreme Court has rejected California State University trustees' contention that the university does not have to mitigate off-site traffic and fire safety impacts from expansion of the CSU Monterey Bay campus. >>read more

A unanimous California Supreme Court has upheld lower court decisions rejecting an advertising company's claim that it deserves compensation because trees planted along a public street obstructed visibility of six billboards. >>read more

In a decision handed down shortly before the state Supreme Court opinion on California State University project impacts, an appellate court ruled that a San Diego community college district is responsible for off-campus traffic impacts caused by campus expansion. >>read more

I don't agree with the saying that laws are made to be broken. That is the attitude of criminals. I believe, rather, that laws are elastic. Like the fan belts in cars, they are made be stretched until they snap. >>read more

Big bear Lake crushes proposed housing development while Madera County continues to wait for long-delayed development of new town, San Diego salvages its inclusionary housing ordinance, State Controllers Office reports majore violations, EPA presents 20 smart growth case studies, and Butte County bans new private roads.