Articles

An assessment levied by Sacramento County on nonprofit organizations that conduct bingo games did not violate a 1994 initiative barring the imposition of a tax or fee on a nonprofit group's income, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled. However, the appellate panel sent the case back to the trial court to determine whether the fees were closely related enough to county expenses to be legal.

The Proposition 62 requirement that a tax measure receive two-thirds approval by a City Council before going to voters does not apply to charter law cities, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled.

California is an expansive state, but most people live and work in a series of spaces that are – proportionally – rather small. It may seem like it takes forever to traverse metropolitan Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area, but these population centers make up only a tiny portion of the state's overall land area.

Local governments that float Marks-Roos bonds have a fiduciary responsibility to the investors who hold the bonds – but not to the property owners who provide the revenue to make the bond payments, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled.

The City of Industry has purchased a 2,400-acre Boy Scout camp in the hills outside of town. The acquisition and Industry's plans for the property have spurred a major fight between Industry and a collection of environmentalists and officials from neighboring jurisdictions.

One year ago, the water district that serves portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties reached a tentative agreement with other local and federal agencies on a plan to divert water from the Sacramento River. Supporters of the plan said it would benefit many different parties.

Development supporters fared better than slow-growth advocates during November's off-year election with few land use ballot measures. The pro-growth side won seven of the ten measures on local ballots that had obvious growth implications.

Constructing a golf course is a legitimate use of public parkland, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court ruled against an Orange County citizens group that alleged the county government was improperly using land dedicated for a park.

The state Supreme Court has agreed hear to an unusual case from the Sonoma County city of Cotati that involves both mobile home rent control and an alleged strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP).

With its key location on the edge of the Bay Area and plenty of inexpensive land, Tracy would appear to be in position to attract some technology-based economic growth. And the city has inched into the tech arena, but it remains primarily a bedroom community.

An environmental assessment of a 5,000-acre federal land exchange in Las Vegas did not sufficiently address the question of the cumulative air-quality impacts of developing the property, a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The court held that federal officials may be required to prepare an environmental impact statement.

After years of design changes and project delays, a troubled North Hollywood redevelopment project finally appears to be headed toward construction. The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency board in September approved $31.7 million in loans and subsidies to aid the $194-million NoHo Commons infill project.

A developer who I interviewed recently (not the one discussed in this story) described certain buildings as sending "hostile messages" to an urban neighborhood. At first, I thought the notion was quaint. Then I began to understand what he meant.