CP&DR

L.A. County Approves Revised Newhall Ranch Project

Jun 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, In Brief, Vol. 18 No. 06 Jun 2003

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a revised environmental impact report for the proposed Newhall Ranch development in the hills just west of Santa Clarita. The revised EIR was required because a Kern County judge in 2000 found the original study lacking.

Millbrae Zoning Initiative Cleared For Ballot

Jun 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 06 Jun 2003

A city clerk did not have authority to throw out a zoning initiative petition based on evidence she received that the petition had been improperly circulated, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. The city clerk's role was ministerial, and she did not have the authority to consider extrinsic evidence about how the initiative's backers circulated the measure, the court held.

Redevelopment Agency Demand For Supplemental EIR Upheld

Jun 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 06 Jun 2003

The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency was correct to require a supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) for a billboard proposed within a redevelopment project area, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.

Court Limits Coastal Commission Jurisdiction To Coastal Zone

Jun 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 06 Jun 2003

The California Coastal Commission does not have authority to consider environmental impacts to areas inside the coastal zone caused by development outside the coast zone, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. The decision is the most definitive to date on the Commission's authority when a project straddles the coastal zone boundary.

Madera County EIR's Approach To Species Upheld

Jun 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 06 Jun 2003

An environmental impact report for a dairy in Madera County has survived a challenge from an organization that fights dairy expansion in the Central Valley. The Fifth District Court of Appeal rejected arguments that the EIR's handling of endangered species issues, project alternatives and cumulative groundwater impacts was inadequate.

SoCal Developer's Constitutional Challenge of ESA Fails

Jun 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 06 Jun 2003

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has turned back a San Diego developer's broad attack on the Endangered Species Act as an unconstitutional exercise of federal power. Rancho Viejo LLC argued that the federal government had exceeded the authority granted to it by the constitution's Commerce Clause, and the developer pointed to two recent Supreme Court decisions striking down laws because they exceeded Congress's authority under the clause.

Would-Be Developer's Lawsuit Against SD Port District Is Ruled A SLAPP

May 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 05 May 2003

A developer's lawsuit that claimed the San Diego Unified Port District and one of its commissioners conspired to kill the developer's proposed waterfront project has been thrown out as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP).

Special Master's Termination From Union City Redevelopment Project Upheld

May 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 05 May 2003

A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's decision to remove a special master who had been appointed to oversee redevelopment of an industrial site in Union City. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld a court order capping the former special master's compensation and ordering him to repay $113,000.

Cal Supremes Return Water Treatment Plant Case To Appellate Court

May 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 18 No. 05 May 2003

A 2002 appellate court decision that subjected a proposed water treatment plant to local zoning and building ordinances appears to be on shaky ground.

Report Urges Cities To Overhaul Approach To Zoning

May 1, 2003

CP&DR Staff, In Brief, Vol. 18 No. 05 May 2003

A report prepared by a group of New Urbanist planners for the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) recommends that cities and counties adopt form-based codes to govern development. The report knocks typical zoning codes, which are based on land uses. The authors contend this type of zoning has led to 50 years of suburban-style development, which has caused people to rebel against growth.

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