CP&DR - Articles

Folsom Looks for School, Classroom, Land for Growth

Apr 1, 2001

Larry Sokoloff, Local Watch, Vol. 16 No. 04 Apr 2001

With its well-paying high-tech jobs, close commuting proximity to Sacramento, a scenic location on the American River, ample supplies of new housing and a quaint downtown, Folsom has many assets. Because of those advantages, the city on the eastern edge of Sacramento County has attracted hordes of newcomers in recent years. As a result, schools are overcrowded and the city is rapidly running out of land.

San Jose, CSU Cooperate for Joint Library

Apr 1, 2001

Deals, Morris Newman, Vol. 16 No. 04 Apr 2001

The average person thinks of government as having a monolithic character. If she does not know better, she believes that different government agencies are merely the Vishnu-like arms of one great, unified body. But the opposite is true. Government is, in fact, a cluster of little bureaucracies. Each governmental agency, and each department inside that agency, and each division that department, has its own agenda. Call it the Will to Power. Call it the Imp of the Perverse. Whatever you call it, t

Want an Urban attraction? Get Real

Apr 1, 2001

Stephen Svete, Trends, Vol. 16 No. 04 Apr 2001

At Disney's new Anaheim theme park, designers are banking on a proven formula. Create facsimiles of real places, stir them together into a brick-and-mortar masala amid the aging sprawl of suburban north Orange County, and voila: another millions-of-visitors-a-year attraction. However contrived, Disney was the first to prove that people will pay good money to visit a place that mimics the real thing.

Land Use Bills to Watch This Year

Apr 1, 2001

other, Vol. 16 No. 04 Apr 2001

Delta Water Storage Project Advances, But Questions Remain

Apr 1, 2001

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 16 No. 04 Apr 2001

In most parts of the world, islands are bits of dry land that stick out of the water. The term has quite a different meaning in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a place where human ingenuity has managed to stand geography on its head.

Election Results

Apr 1, 2001

Elections, other, Vol. 16 No. 04 Apr 2001

Few land use measures appeared on ballots during the spring municipal elections conducted in some California cities and counties on March 6, although development was an issue in several city races.

Housing Caps: A Growth Control Mechanism that Won't Go Away

Mar 1, 2001

Insight, Vol. 16 No. 03 Mar 2001, William Fulton

When voters in Tracy approved an annual "cap" on new housing construction last November, it was the first time since the late 1980s that a California municipality enacted this venerable — yet controversial — method of restricting growth. After grinding through 1,000 to 1,500 residential building permits annually for the last several years, the San Joaquin County commuter town will now have to restrict itself to 750 permits in any one year — and an annual average of 600.

Landlords Lose Again as Court Sets New Due Process Standard

Mar 1, 2001

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 16 No. 03 Mar 2001

The California Supreme Court has dealt a setback to property rights advocates and outlined a new standard for proving that a government agency violated a property owner's federal due process rights. On a 5-2 decision, the court held that a landlord who is subject to a mobilehome rent control ordinance can receive compensation under the federal Civil Rights Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1983) only if the government deliberately flouts the law.

Long Beach Takes Long Way to Donwtown

Mar 1, 2001

Morris Newman, Places, Vol. 16 No. 03 Mar 2001

It seems natural, at first glance, that Long Beach would want to promote its waterfront as a resort destination. The city has miles of continuous oceanfront in a region that is starved for open views of the Pacific. Yet efforts to create a visitor-friendly waterfront have been a protracted agony of collapsed hopes and stalled-out development projects.

Cal Supemes Ask Many Questions, But Offer Few Hints in Pivotal Case

Mar 1, 2001

Legal Digest, Paul Shigley, Vol. 16 No. 03 Mar 2001

The California Supreme Court in February heard oral arguments in a California Environmental Quality Act case for the first time since 1997. But members of the court gave few indications of how they would rule in the case, which centers on the lack of an environmental review for a city-sponsored ballot measure. Justices peppered attorneys on either side of Friends of Sierra Madre v. City of Sierra Madre, No. S085088, with questions throughout the hour-long proceedings in Sacramento. Afterward,

Appellate Panel Awards Legal Costs to Make Property Owner Whole

Mar 1, 2001

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 16 No. 03 Mar 2001

A public agency that loses an inverse condemnation case must pay all reasonable legal costs that the property owner incurred, even if there is a second round of litigation, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. The decision came in a case in which the Hawaiian Gardens Redevelopment Agency delayed payment of litigation expenses and then refused to pay later costs incurred by the owners of an automobile dealership.

Power Plant Development Booms: Environmentalis, NIMBY's Present Few Obstacle to Most Projects

Mar 1, 2001

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 16 No. 03 Mar 2001

With electricity in California in short supply during recent months, it is easy to overlook the boom in power plant construction that has already started. Since April 1999, the California Energy Commission has approved nine plants capable of increasing the state's generating capacity by 12%. And, the commission is reviewing 14 more proposals that would add another 12% to the state's generating abilities, bringing the capacity to about 67,000 megawatts.

Off-Site Advertisements Ruled Illegal despite On-Site Office Space

Mar 1, 2001

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 16 No. 03 Mar 2001

The owner of a commercial building and billboard next to a freeway could not avoid state prohibitions against off-site advertising simply by leasing office space to the advertisers, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court held that the Outdoor Advertising Act (Bus. & Prof. Code § 5200 et. seq.) prohibited the billboard's use for promoting commercial enterprises that were clearly undertaken elsewhere.

In Brief

Mar 1, 2001

In Brief, other, Vol. 16 No. 03 Mar 2001