CP&DR

Attorney General: LAFCO May Adjust Proposed City Boundaries

Jul 15, 2008

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, New cities, Sacramento County, Vol. 23 No. 08 Aug 2008

A local agency formation commission may alter the boundaries of a proposed new city beyond those drawn by incorporation proponents, according to a state attorney general's opinion.

Coastal Commission In-Lieu Fee Upheld

Jul 15, 2008

CP&DR Staff, Development impact fees, Legal Digest, Monterey County, Vol. 23 No. 08 Aug 2008

An unusual Coastal Commission mitigation fee to offset the impact of a private seawall has been upheld by the Sixth District Court of Appeal, which rejected arguments that the fee was unconstitutional, was prohibited by the Coastal Act and was the result of post hoc rationalization.

Court Calls LAFCO Approval Necessary For Special District Service Expansion

Jul 15, 2008

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, San Joaquin County, Vol. 23 No. 08 Aug 2008

An irrigation district that provides wholesale electricity may not begin providing retail electric service without approval of the Local Agency Formation Commission, the Third District Court of Appeal has ruled.

In a related decision, the Third District also ruled that the irrigation district may not depose two members and the executive officer of the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) for the district's lawsuit regarding denial of the retail electricity service application. Both decisions bolster the authority and integrity of LAFCOs.

9th Circuit Overturns Pacifica Developer's Award Of Damages

Jun 30, 2008

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, San Mateo County, Takings, Vol. 23 No. 07 Jul 2008

An award of $665,000 in damages and legal expenses to a developer in Pacifica has been thrown out by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The unanimous three-judge panel determined that a questionable condition of project approval that the city eventually repealed did not constitute a violation of the developer's equal protection rights because the condition did not stop the project from moving forward.

Study Of Large Irvine Company Development Upheld

Jun 30, 2008

California Environmental Quality Act, CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Orange County, Vol. 23 No. 07 Jul 2008

The Sierra Club's challenge of the environmental review for a large annexation by the City of Orange and a related development by the Irvine Company has been rejected by the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

The court turned away arguments that the environmental analysis for the Santiago Hills and East Orange projects improperly described the project, segmented environmental reviews, failed to adequately address water quality, incorrectly analyzed traffic and lacked a proper project alternatives analysis.

Statute Of Limitations Extended In Lawsuit Over Recreation Trail

Jun 30, 2008

California Environmental Quality Act, CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, San Mateo County, Vol. 23 No. 07 Jul 2008

An appellate court has reinstated a lawsuit over environmental review of a recreational trail proposed to be built in San Mateo County.

A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge had thrown out the suit because it was filed after the California Environmental Quality Act's usual 30-day statute of limitations expired. However, the Sixth District Court of Appeal ruled there was "reasonable probability" environmentalists could show that a 180-day statute of limitations applied here.

Challenge Of Treatment Plant's Water Quality Exception Fails

Jun 30, 2008

California Environmental Quality Act, CP&DR Staff, El Dorado County, Legal Digest, Vol. 23 No. 07 Jul 2008

A plan that alters regulations for the operation of a wastewater treatment plant that disposes of effluent into a Sierra Nevada foothills creek, rather than requiring improvements to the plant, has been upheld by the First District Court of Appeal.

Anglers and environmentalists sued over the plan, arguing state water quality regulators violated the California Environmental Quality Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. But a unanimous three-judge panel of the First District, Division One, ruled for the government.

State Supreme Court Defers On Delta Water Policy

Jun 20, 2008

California, California Environmental Quality Act, Legal Digest, Paul Shigley, Vol. 23 No. 07 Jul 2008

An environmental impact report for the Cal-Fed Bay-Delta project has been upheld by the state Supreme Court. The unanimous decision was at least somewhat academic because the Cal-Fed process has essentially halted. Still, the court appeared to signal that it would defer to policymakers on Delta water and environmental policy, and to agencies that certify broad program environmental impact reports.

Timber Plans, Environmental Reviews Survive At High Court

Jun 20, 2008

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Logging, Tuolumne County, Vol. 23 No. 07 Jul 2008

The California Supreme Court has upheld three timber harvest plans that an appellate court had found to be in violation of the state Forest Practices Act and the California Department of Forestry's functional equivalent of the California Environmental Quality Act. The state high court ruled the analysis of cumulative impact on two rare species was adequate, as was an analysis of likely herbicide use.

CEQA, NEPA Suit Ruled Moot

May 30, 2008

California Environmental Quality Act, CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Santa Barbara County, Vol. 23 No. 06 Jun 2008

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit has dismissed as moot an animal rights group's challenge of the environmental review documents for a program in which the National Park Service eradicated feral pigs on Santa Cruz Island.

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