CP&DR - Articles

Infrastructure Fee Shortfall Plagues Modesto's Village I

Sep 1, 2002

Local Watch, Modesto, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

An infrastructure fee shortfall for an 1,840-acre project in the City of Modesto could reach into the tens of millions of dollars and has become a major controversy in the Central Valley city.

Prevailing Wage Law Has Mixed Impact: Affordable Housing Projects Likely To Cost More

Sep 1, 2002

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

A new requirement that nearly every California development project built with any public subsidies — including many affordable housing projects — must be constructed with prevailing wage labor appears to be having an impact. But the effects may not be as substantial as some people fear, at least not yet.

School District Goes Shopping For New Campus

Sep 1, 2002

Deals, Morris Newman, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

Some people react almost viscerally to the suggestion of combining schools with shopping centers, and with some reason. Education and retail are fundamentally different activities. Schools — at least our mental picture of them — are protective and cloistered, while shopping centers are bustling places wide open to the entire public. Like chocolate and onions, the two just do not seem to go together.

Santa Cruz County Second Unit Ordinance Survives

Sep 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

Landowners who filed a lawsuit contending that Santa Cruz County's second unit ordinance conflicted with state law should have filed suit when the county most recently amended the ordinance, not when the county applied the ordinance to conditional use permits, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

Past Action By City Not Part Of Fair Market Value Equation, Court Holds

Sep 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

An appellate court has overturned a jury's verdict on the fair market value of property that the City of Ripon took through eminent domain. The appellate panel ruled that the trial judge allowed the jury to hear inadmissible evidence about how the city allegedly blocked development of the property to diminish its value.

Lawsuits Challenging Indio Project Addition Dismissed On Technicality

Sep 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

Challenges to a City of Indio redevelopment project area expansion from three other government agencies have been thrown out on a technicality by the Fourth District County of Appeal.

County Loses Attempt To Block Water District Incorporation Effort

Sep 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

A water district in Fresno County has the authority to pursue incorporation as a city, the Fifth District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court rejected arguments from Fresno County that the Malaga County Water District needed special legislation to proceed with creation of a new city.

'Old Oakland' Developers Lose Suit Against Bank That Dropped Project

Sep 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

The tortured history of a development in downtown Oakland added another chapter when a state appellate court overturned a lower court decision against Citicorp Real Estate, which had foreclosed on the project. The appellate panel found that the jury had been instructed incorrectly and that Citicorp had done nothing legally wrong in respect to its handling of the "Old Oakland" project.

Serious Threat Of Condemnation Triggers Process, Court Rules

Sep 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

In a case that pitted open space protection against eminent domain law, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled that a Sonoma County open space district did not need to get voter approval before granting an easement for a treated wastewater pipeline across district property.

Apartments May Be As Likely As New Houses To Contain Children

Sep 1, 2002

Chris Williamson, Mivelia Andika, Research Reports, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

Since the mid-1990s, most new market-rate housing in California has been of the single-family detached (SFD) variety. Under traditional assumptions, these units should be generating school-age children at a predictable rate — because they would be occupied by families with a predictable number of children. But when single-family homes represent the only housing being built, those assumptions might go out the window. All types of households might occupy the new houses. And that r

Firefighters Take Expertise To The Urban Edge

Aug 1, 2002

Stephen Svete, Trends, Vol. 17 No. 08 Aug 2002, Wildfires

It was cool and foggy along the Santa Barbara Channel coast in early June. So the delicate layer of ash coating everything outside and the faint smell of burnt sage seemed a bit incongruous.

Court Finds Potential For Conflicts In Hearing Officer Selection Process

Aug 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 08 Aug 2002

The state Supreme Court has struck down a common method that cities and counties use to select temporary administrative hearing officers for land use controversies and other issues. The court ruled that San Bernardino County's unilateral appointment and payment of an attorney as a temporary hearing officer created the possibility of a conflict of interest for the attorney. The court accepted the argument from a massage clinic owner that the attorney might provide the county a favorable decision

Another Redevelopment Plan Gets Shot Down

Aug 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 08 Aug 2002

A state appellate court has invalidated a City of Upland redevelopment plan because the city improperly manipulated the base tax year for one parcel, and because the area was neither predominately urbanized nor blighted.

SF Locates Infill Opportunities On Transit Agency Real Estate

Aug 1, 2002

Paul Shigley, Public Development, Public Transit, TOD, Vol. 17 No. 08 Aug 2002

Spurred by a 1999 ballot initiative to find new revenue sources, San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency is examining some of its real estate holdings with an eye toward development opportunities. Muni has a development agreement with a hotel builder for one piece of prime property near the Ferry Building. Other properties could be developed with housing, stores and offices ï¿½ possibly above ground-level transit facilities.