CP&DR

Eminent Domain Reform Is Quiet, But Alive

Jun 19, 2007

California, Featured Articles, Legislation, Paul Shigley

Little appears to have happened since local government organizations and their supporters rolled out an eminent domain reform package that they said would protect homeowners and small businesses from government abuse. The May 21 announcement from the California Redevelopment Association and the League of California Cities got extensive press coverage, and the proposed legislation won plaudits from several newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. A number of business and environmental groups said they would support the measures.

Familiar Bills Return In Sacramento

Jun 5, 2007

California, Featured Articles, Legislation, Paul Shigley, Vol. 22 No. 04 Apr 2007

With the passage of $42 billion in bonds last November, infrastructure spending has risen to the top of the state Legislature's agenda. More than 60 bills attempt to allocate portions of the money or establish criteria for spending the funds, according to the California Budget Project. Still, there is plenty of legislative activity surrounding other planning and development staples, including housing, the California Environmental Quality Act, flood control and economic development.

Farmland Mitigation Takes Root

May 29, 2007

Central Valley, Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, San Joaquin County, Vol. 22 No. 06 Jun 2007

Local governments in the Central Valley are starting to adopt policies that require developers to mitigate the conversion of farmland to urban uses, primarily by acquiring agricultural easements or paying in-lieu fees. San Joaquin County has become a hotbed for the new policies, and farmland advocates are hoping to export those policies to other places.

ABAG Housing Plan Gets Smart

Apr 5, 2007

California, Featured Articles, Housing, Paul Shigley, Vol. 22 No. 02 Feb 2007

The Association of Bay Area Governments has adopted a methodology for distributing fair-share housing units that directs housing growth to existing urban areas, especially those with jobs and transit, and downplays the trend of extensive development on the Bay Area's fringe.

State Supreme Court Emerges As CEQA Enforcer

Mar 1, 2007

California Environmental Quality Act, Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Sacramento County, Vol. 22 No. 03 Mar 2007

In issuing its second California Environmental Quality Act ruling in seven months, the conservative-leaning California Supreme Court is emerging as one of CEQA's staunchest defenders. The latest decision — the rejection of an environmental impact report's water analysis for a large Sacramento-area housing project — is the court's first foray into such water studies, and the court appears to have set a high standard.

Planning's Good, Bad And Ugly Updated

Nov 1, 2006

Featured Articles, Larry Sokoloff, Paul Shigley, Vol. 21 No. 11 Nov 2006

Hundreds upon hundreds of real estate developments, planning efforts, economic development projects and related matters have received coverage in the pages of CP&DR during the past 20 years. We present here an update on some of the most important, and some of the weirder, stories from that period — while keeping in mind that most of these stories still have not ended.

Coastal Commission Survives

Jul 1, 2005

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Vol. 20 No. 07 Jul 2005

The California Coastal Commission has survived one of most direct assaults on its existence since the Commission's establishment in 1976. Property owners, who have chafed for years at the Coastal Commission's land use restrictions, had hoped to have the Commission's makeup declared unconstitutional, but the California Supreme Court unanimously upheld the current system in a ruling issued June 23.

Redevelopment Legislation Stalls

by Paul Shigley on Jun 1, 2005

Featured Articles, Vol. 20 No. 06 Jun 2005

Legislation that would permit certain redevelopment agencies to extend the life of redevelopment project areas has stalled for the year. Four Assembly bills hit a roadblock in the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee when Chairman Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco) decided that a broader discussion of redevelopment time extensions was necessary.

State Scrutinizes Delta Urbanization

Jun 1, 2004

Featured Articles, Paul Shigley, Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, Vol. 19 No. 06 Jun 2004

A proposal to expand the authority of the Delta Protection Commission and alter its membership is setting up a classic local-versus-state confrontation. Some state officials say greater oversight of land use decisions is needed to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's natural resources and farms, while locals say the state is trying to intrude on local control.

Counties Fight Over Traffic From Proposed Foothills Resort

Jan 1, 2004

CP&DR Staff, Featured Articles, Vol. 19 No. 01 Jan 2004

Calveras County supervisors approved a 3,250-acre residential and golf course resort project near the lower foothills community of Copperopolis in mid-December. The following day, the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors voted to sue its northern neighbor because of traffic concerns about the project.