CP&DR

Audits Question Local Agency Practices

Sep 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, In Brief, Vol. 18 No. 09 Sep 2003

Two audits of redevelopment agencies that the Department of Housing and Community Development completed in August strike hard at local agency practices. The state found a number of accounting and planning deficiencies at the Baldwin Park Redevelopment Agency and told the City of Concord to stop using housing set-aside funds for general code enforcement activity.

Alameda County Growth Control Survives Multiple Challenges

Sep 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 09 Sep 2003

The First District Court of Appeal has published its decision upholding a slow-growth initiative approved by Alameda County voters in November 2000.

Riverside County's Content-Neutral Billboard Regulation is Ruled Constitutional

Sep 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 12 Dec 2003

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the constitutionality of a Riverside County sign and billboard ordinance because of its content-neutral approach to regulation.

Coastal Commission, Mining Plan Cases Accepted by High Court

Sep 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 09 Sep 2003

The state Supreme Court has accepted for review two land use cases in which appellate courts limited the jurisdiction of state officials. One case involved the Coastal Commission and the other concerned the director of the Department of Conservation.

Escondido Is Off The Hook For Improper Housing Set-Aside

Sep 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 09 Sep 2003

An appellate court has overturned a Superior Court decision requiring the City of Escondido to reimburse the city redevelopment agency's housing fund for 13 years worth of underpayments. The appellate panel instead ruled that, because of the statute of limitations, the city had to reimburse the housing fund for only three years worth of underpayments.

Report Questions State's Brownfields Program

Aug 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, In Brief, Vol. 18 No. 08 Aug 2003

A new report by the state auditor suggests that California's brownfields program could be stronger. The state lacks an inventory of brownfields and even a definition of the term, which generally refers to abandoned industrial sites, gasoline stations and mines.

Project's Growth Inducing Effect Doesn't Result in Compensation

Aug 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 08 Aug 2003

A city that acquires land for two roads through eminent domain does not have to compensate the property owner for the growth-inducing impacts of the roads, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

Extraction Rights Don't Equal Storage Rights, Court Determines

Aug 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 08 Aug 2003

The right to pump groundwater does not equate to the right to store water in the same groundwater basin, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. In perhaps the first published ruling of its kind, the court held that unused groundwater storage space is a public resource that must be managed for the public benefit.

Property Owner's 1st, 14th Amendment Claims to Get Hearing

Aug 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Vol. 18 No. 08 Aug 2003

A Santa Barbara County property owner has been allowed to pursue a lawsuit alleging that the county violated his rights of free speech, equal protection and due process by giving him a hard time with proposed developments.

Property Owner's 1st, 14th Amendment Rights to Get Hearing

Aug 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 08 Aug 2003

A Santa Barbara County property owner has been allowed to pursue a lawsuit alleging that the county violated his rights of free speech, equal protection and due process by giving him a hard time with proposed developments.

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