Flat denial of blufftop house meant the "futility exception" was in play. Cost to the city: $3.4 million and counting.

Billion-dollar UC Davis project will be located adjacent to Sacramento's Oak Park neighborhood. Residents have filed a CEQA lawsuit, while the city has committed 20% of EIFD money to affordable housing.

For Sacramento and Berkeley, the hard part is still coming: How to create a development code that will encourage rather than block other small-scale housing products.

The California Legislature has come roaring back in 2021 with a whole new set of bills affecting planning and development.

In the latest skirmish over Los Padres Del Mar -- 10 years after the city approved the project for the second time -- an appellate court has ruled that Pismo and the developer do not have to pay LAFCO's attorneys fees.

The council vote was unanimous, but now comes the hard part: Implementing an upzoning in a city with strong homeowner advocacy and fire-prone hillside neighborhoods.

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Except for two minor adjustments, all cities lose their appeals. Half of Orange County cities appealed.

Council has taken first vote, but it will be several more months at least before the new policy allowing up to four units on every parcel is formally adopted.

... There's no remedy in the law when a lead agency fails to notify an interested party, even though it's against the law.

In Marin City, a clever developer is building a project double the allowed size with very little parking and few other amenities -- and the county couldn't do anything to stop it.

Marin County is elite, but Marin City is not. Yet that's where the county's first SB 35 project is going.

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Throughout California and beyond, distant suburbs and resort towns are seeing a surge in population -- and home sales. But will the trend stick after the pandemic?

A lifetime urban dweller, Donald Trump was an anti-city president. Biden is a lifelong Amtrak rider -- and California urban planning is likely to change with him at the helm.

Housing accountability unit will help local governments but also keep an eye on them.

Appellate court says citizen group can proceed with Brown Act lawsuit against ABAG regarding CASA Compact approval.

Appellate court overturns decision favoring Department of Finance.

Also on the legislative docket: Bills to restrict development in wildfire areas.

The property owners undertook a major renovation -- apparently beyond what the Coastal Development Permit allowed -- with city permits but without out telling the Coastal Commission.