CP&DR - Articles

Court Rules Development Agreements Are Constitutional

Dec 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, San Luis Obispo County, Vol. 15 No. 12 Dec 2000

A development agreement between San Luis Obispo County and the developer of a subdivision and resort did not amount to an unconstitutional contracting away of the county's police power, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. The opinion validates development agreements as legitimate planning tools and appears to erase any lingering doubts about the constitutionality of the practice.

Inverse Condemnation: Court Reads Writing on L.A. Sign Ordinance Clearly; Upholds Permit

Dec 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 12 Dec 2000

The Second District Court of Appeal has overturned a City of Los Angeles decision not to permit construction of a billboard, and the court indicated the city could be liable for revenue the would-be sign builder lost. The opinion by Justice Rueben Ortega strongly suggests that political pressure from the mayor's office influenced the city's Board of Building and Safety Commissioners. The board initially refused to revoke the billboard permit on appeal. After the mayor's office intervened, t...

Endangered Species: Sale of Kern County Oil Land Exempt from Species Law

Dec 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 12 Dec 2000

The Department of Energy could sell 47,000 acres in an area with five endangered species to Occidental Petroleum without consulting the Fish & Wildlife Service, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has ruled. The federal legislation authorizing the sale of land outside Bakersfield allowed the sale to go forward without an endangered species consultation, and without Occidental applying for a new "take" permit under the Endangered Species Act, the court held. National Petroleum Reserve –...

Giant Office Projects Sprout in Downtown Sacramento

Dec 1, 2000

Paul Shigley, Public Development, Vol. 15 No. 12 Dec 2000

With tens of thousands of public employees migrating to its downtown every weekday, Sacramento is very much a company town. So it is no surprise that a gigantic new building — by far the largest in the Central Valley — at 10th and I streets provides offices for state workers. Nearly 3,100 employees of the six agencies and the administrative office that comprise the California Environmental Protection Agency are scheduled to finish moving into the new CalEPA building by the middle of this mon...

New Housing Program Details

Nov 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Featured Articles, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

The State of California's 2000-01 budget and various pieces of legislation created several new programs and expanded some existing housing programs under the Department of Housing and Community Development. They new programs include: o Jobs-Housing Balance Improvement Program. $110 million. Covers three areas: — Economic development grants to local agencies in "housing rich" areas to attract new businesses and jobs. — Incentive grants to cities and counti...

First Amendment: HUD Officials Are Held Liable for Violating Protestors' Rights

Nov 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

Federal housing officials violated the free speech rights of three Berkeley residents who protested plans for a homeless shelter in their neighborhood, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The court ruled that a Department of Housing and Urban Development officials' eight-month investigation into the activities of project opponents trampled on rights that were clearly protected by the First Amendment. The court held that the five HUD officials (one of whom is now deceased) are...

Tribal Regulations: Tribe Cannot Regulate Land Owner By Non-Members, Court Rules

Nov 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court judgment giving an Indian tribe the right to regulate the use of fee-patented private property within a reservation boundary. The unanimous three-judge panel ruled that an Indian tribe has the authority to regulate land owned by nonmembers only when given specific Congressional approval or when then land use directly affects the tribe's political integrity, economic security, or health and welfare. The case involved a small timber ha...

U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Case From Rhode Island Property Owner

Nov 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted for review a takings case from Rhode Island. The case centers on the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council's denial of permits to fill 18 acres of wetlands and a pond in the town of Westerly. The landowner, Anthony Palazzolo, first sought permission to dredge and fill the marsh and pond in 1962 so that he could build 74 houses. He filed several subsequent applications but did not receive the approval needed to proceed. The state age...

Housing Programs Get More Money; State Leaders Approve Spending But Leave Policy Alone

Nov 1, 2000

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

With affordable housing ranking as a major issue in nearly all of California, the Davis administration and the Legislature responded this year with a gigantic increase in funding for housing programs. However, they did not adopt the significant policy changes supported by the building industry and some housing advocates, and the governor even vetoed one of the few important housing bills approved by lawmakers. Housing programs will receive about $570 million of this year's state budget — up from about...

Avila Beach: Folks Plan a Town

Nov 1, 2000

Morris Newman, Places, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

When a disaster destroys your home, there are basically two responses. You can choose to start afresh, and build an entirely new house. Or, you can rebuild the house you had before, brick by brick, because it was familiar and because you loved it. That was the dilemma facing Avila Beach, an unincorporated community San Luis Obispo County, which found itself with the rare opportunity of rebuilding after a near-total demolition. The community's decision says much about both planning and the human di...

Tax Increment Loan Brings Bloomingdale's to San Francisco

Nov 1, 2000

Economic Development, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

The largest Bloomingdale's department store outside of New York City is coming to San Francisco thanks to a $27 million loan from the city to the developer. In approving the 1.6-million-square-foot redevelopment project, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors also backed an agreement that requires all retailers in the project except Bloomingdale's not to block labor union organizing. The five-story, 375,000-square-foot Bloomingdale's will anchor the retail, hotel and office project...

Redevelopment Project Areas Shrink in Number But Grow in Acreage

Nov 1, 2000

Insight, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000, William Fulton

Redevelopment is supposed to be out of fashion. The legislative reforms passed in 1993 made it more difficult for local governments to find "blight" — and cut down on the financial incentives for using redevelopment as well. Furthermore, California's appellate courts have made it increasingly clear that they have little patience for California's redevelopment games. In three recent rulings, appellate judges have hammed local agencies for playing fast and loose with the definition of both "blight" and "u...

Oceanside Tries to Shake Its Bad Reputation

Nov 1, 2000

Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

Ever since Camp Pendleton opened on its northern border during World War II, Oceanside has been known as a military town. Over the years, nude dance clubs, rough bars, tattoo parlors and hourly motels flourished in the beachfront downtown, giving Oceanside a reputation as a tough town with a high crime rate. But city officials, civic leaders and merchants in this northern San Diego County town of 160,000 people have worked hard to make those days history. Now, downtown is on a comeback, aide...

Jerry Brown Wins Exemption From Conflict of Interest Rules

Nov 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 11 Nov 2000

The First District Court of Appeal has cleared the way for Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown to participate in redevelopment decisions in neighborhoods where he owns property. In overturning a Fair Political Practices Commission ruling, the court held that Oakland's City Charter provides a loophole in state conflict-of-interest laws by requiring the mayor's participation in redevelopment activities. Brown championed the state's conflict of interest law, the Political Reform Act of 1974 (Gov. Code §81000), whe...