Montecito homeowners said Santa Barbara County couldn't enforce its encroachment law because the county had to go through a CEQA process. An appellate court said the homeowners who blocked parking spaces on their road were the lawbreakers, not the county.
In an unpublished ruling, appellate court uses "noisy Berkeley students" precedent to rule that human noise could be a significant impact under CEQA, thus killing infill exemption for project near USC.
The affluent San Gabriel Valley city has asserted that late passage of its housing element might protect the city from the builder's remedy, even without HCD approval (which could come soon). But a pending project may be permitted to move forward.
California Supreme Court concludes that localities may regulate the location of oil drilling, but the allowable methods must be determined by the Department of Conservation.
A coalition of housing advocates collected enough signatures to place an initiative to repeal a major restriction on rent control on the November 2024 statewide ballot
Because 40 rent-stabilized apartments would be eliminated by construction of a new hotel, an appellate court ruled that the city cannot ignore the goals and policies in its own housing element.
In an unpublished ruling, an appellate court concluded that cities challenging RHNA targets can't sue the state. Previous rulings only said that cities couldn't sue their council of governments.
Their project was denied even though they asserted the builder's remedy. The lawsuit sets up a legal battle over whether cities can get out from under the builder's remedy by self-certifying their housing element.
Developers and open space advocates are likely to battle over a soon-to-be-closed Bay Area racetrack. Meanwhile, the Coastal Commission is opposing a Santa Cruz project because the number of affordable units isn't high enough.
LA Metro's new light rail line runs through the heart of Los Angeles' Black community. Community leaders hope it will serve existing residents without hastening gentrification.
