Legal Digest

The saga of public access to a beach adjacent to entertainment mogul David Geffen's house in Malibu has apparently concluded, with public access secure. >>read more

A redevelopment plan covering more than 10,000 acres in San Jose has been upheld by the Sixth District Court of Appeal. The court ruled that the city had proven that blight existed in the six sub-areas of the project. >>read more

Approval of a tentative parcel map does not prevent zoning changes from applying to the subdivision, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled. In a case from Orange County, the court ruled that the county could enforce provisions in a specific plan adopted after the county approved a four-lot parcel map for 9.2 acres within the specific plan area. >>read more

The City of Los Angeles was correct to revoke a building permit even though the permit holder had spent more than $200,000 on real estate and construction as a result of the city's advice and permit, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. >>read more

A land exchange between the State Lands Commission and the City of Long Beach to accommodate a retail development project has been thrown out by the Third District Court of Appeal. The court ruled that the state agency and the city violated the state law that permits the swapping of land covered by the tidelands public trust doctrine. >>read more

The state Supreme Court has accepted for review a California Environmental Quality Act case involving the water supply for a huge project in Sacramento County. >>read more

A new opinion issued by the state attorney general's office regarding housing elements appears to allow cities and counties to skirt their mandated fair-share housing numbers if the local government lacks the resources sufficient to provide the units. >>read more

The First District Court of Appeal has blocked a developer's request to collect from its courtroom opponents the cost of preparing the administrative record in a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit. >>read more

Santa Cruz County is not allowed to regulate the height of mobile homes because state law has pre-empted the possibility of a local ordinance, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled. >>read more

Two water transfers from irrigation districts to the City of Tracy did not require a combined environmental impact report, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court found that the separate negative declarations adopted by the irrigation districts provided adequate review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). >>read more

The California Supreme Court has accepted two more land use cases, one of which is a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) case that has generated quite a bit of discussion. The second one is an inverse condemnation case involving street landscaping that blocks a view of billboards. >>read more

A lawsuit challenging the City of Stockton's decision to privatize its water, wastewater and storm drain systems is headed back to trial court, where a judge will reconsider whether the city's contract with a private company is exempt from environmental review. >>read more

Kern County should have prepared an environmental impact report before adopting an ordinance regulating the disposal of sewage sludge on agricultural land, the Fifth District Court of Appeal has ruled. >>read more

A lawsuit challenging a building permit granted by San Francisco was not filed and served before the statute of limitations deadline, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court also held that the city's notice of decision and order did not deceive the project opponent regarding the deadline. >>read more