CP&DR

Project Opponents Had 180 Days to Sue Regarding Lack of Analysis

Nov 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 11 Nov 2002

Opponents of a proposed recycling center were too late in filing a lawsuit regarding a city's failure to prepare an environmental study on the city's sale of land to the recycling company, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

Owner of Longtime Water Right Can't Avoid Fish and Game Statute

Nov 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 11 Nov 2002

The owner of appropriative water rights to a creek cannot exercise those rights in violation of state regulations intended to protect fish and wildlife, the Third District Court of Appeal has decided.

Court Overturns Property Valuation Because of Trial Judge's Mistakes

Nov 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 11 Nov 2002

When a public agency acquires a property via eminent domain, only a trial court judge -- and not a jury -- can decide whether a business should receive compensation for loss of goodwill, a state appellate court has ruled.

Court Upholds Off-Site Mitigation Deal for Impact of New Houses

Nov 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 11 Nov 2002

The California Coastal Commission's decision to allow Malibu property owners who are building new houses to exchange existing public view corridors on their property for dedication of an off-site public access to the beach has been upheld by the Second District Court of Appeal.

City Cannot Base Antenna Permits Denial Solely on Antenna's Use

Oct 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 10 Oct 2002

The City of Rancho Palos Verdes does have the authority to regulate placement of radio antennas, but the city cannot deny a use permit for an antenna solely because the antenna would be used for commercial purposes, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.

Store Owner Stays Six Years after Condemnation, Still Gets Assistance

Oct 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 10 Oct 2002

A doughnut shop owner who remained in his place of business for six years after the city acquired the property for redevelopment still qualified for relocation benefits as a "displaced person," the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.

Developer Wins Fee Credit for Demolished Units

Oct 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 10 Oct 2002

A school district may charge only limited mitigation fees on a redevelopment project in which new houses replace demolished residential units, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has concluded. The court held that the Tustin Unified School District could levy fees only on the difference in square footage between old apartments and the new houses that replaced the apartments.

State Supreme Court Rules City Suit Against Property Owners is Legitimate

Oct 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 10 Oct 2002

A City of Cotati lawsuit against mobile home park owners who challenged the city's rent control ordinance was not a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP), the state Supreme Court has ruled unanimously.

County's Cancellation of Contract for Housing Development Upheld

Oct 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 10 Oct 2002

In canceling a Williamson Act contract, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors did not need to find that the cancellation was consistent with the county general plan or that an emergency situation existed, the First District Court of Appeal has ruled. The county only needed to find that "other public concerns" substantially outweighed the need to protect farmland, and that no other suitable land not subject to the Williamson Act was available for the proposed development.

Santa Cruz County Second Unit Ordinance Survives

Sep 1, 2002

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 17 No. 09 Sep 2002

Landowners who filed a lawsuit contending that Santa Cruz County's second unit ordinance conflicted with state law should have filed suit when the county most recently amended the ordinance, not when the county applied the ordinance to conditional use permits, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled.

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