CP&DR

Lack of Approved Project Makes Suit Moot, Appellate Court Rules

Sep 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 09 Sep 2000

An appellate court has ruled against environmentalists in a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit because the project in question was not approved and because environmentalists did not exhaust their administrative remedies. In a peculiar case from Rancho Cucamonga, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Two, ruled that the lawsuit brought by opponents of a 40-home subdivision was moot because the city denied the developer's design review application for a previously approved su...

NEPA: Army Corps Need Not Analyze All of Playa Vista, Ninth Circuit Rules

Sep 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 09 Sep 2000

In a major victory for developers of Playa Vista, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has reinstated an Army Corps of Engineers permit to fill 16 acres of wetlands. The unanimous three-judge appellate panel overturned a district court ruling that the Corps did not adequately consider environmental impacts of the overall project. The Ninth Circuit held that the Corps did not need to complete an environmental impact statement and that the Corps was correct to review only the wetlands portion o...

California Supreme Court: First Dibs On Water Rights Carries The Day; Thirsty Cities Remain Dry

Sep 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, San Bernardino County, Vol. 15 No. 09 Sep 2000, Water

In an important water rights ruling, the state Supreme Court has held that farmers' long-standing water rights superceded water claims by downstream cities. The unanimous court ruled in favor of seven alfalfa and dairy farmers in the Mojave Valley that had refused to join a pact that allocated water to more than 200 farmers, cities and other entities without regard to historical water rights. "This preserves the farmers' position at basically the top of the water chain," Robert Dougherty, t...

California Supreme Court: Decision Against Santa Monica Rent Control Law is Decertified

Sep 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 09 Sep 2000

The State Supreme Court decertified a Second District Court of Appeal opinion that overturned portions of Santa Monica's rent control law. The appellate court ruled that Santa Monica could not modify conditions established by state law under which landlords can increase rents for voluntarily vacated units. The court also held that the city cannot demand more information than state law requires when registering rent-controlled units. (See CP&DR Legal Digest, June 2000.) In reviewing the Cos...

Local Adult Business Zoning Gets 3 Hearings in Ninth Circuit

Aug 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 08 Aug 2000

In three adult business cases decided in late June, the Ninth District Court of Appeals upheld one city's zoning ordinance, struck down another city's code and sent a third city's regulatory system back to district court for further proceedings. The court upheld the City of Taft's ordinance that restricts adult businesses to a select few parcels in town, but it struck down a similar ordinance in Simi Valley as unconstitutional because that city's process essentially permitted third parties to block ad...

Councilman Defends Right to decide Own Appeal: Court Rules Applicant can Still receive a Fair Hearing

Aug 1, 2000

Legal Digest, other, Vol. 15 No. 08 Aug 2000

A city councilmember can appeal a planning commission decision and then cast a vote on the appeal, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled. The court decided that the owner of a pool hall in Torrance who sought a permit to sell alcohol could get a fair hearing in such circumstances. The unanimous three-judge panel made clear that the case was dissimilar to a 1994 case in which the Second District ruled that it was a conflict of interest for the Thousand Oaks City Council to appeal a ...

Subdivison Map Act: Ruling Against ‘Paper Subdivisions' Will Not Stand as Precedent

Aug 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 08 Aug 2000

A recent appellate court opinion that cast doubt on the legal status of thousands of lots in 19th century subdivisions has been decertified. The California Supreme Court ordered the depublication of the Second District Court of Appeals' decision in Circle K Ranch Corp. v. Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara, B124996 (see CP&DR Legal Digest, May 2000). However, the state's high court did not accept the case for review. The Second District ruled that separate parcels do not exist today...

Variances: Government Regulations Can Be Grounds for Variance, Court Rules

Aug 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 08 Aug 2000

Santa Cruz County's granting of six variances for a new house on the beach has been upheld by the Sixth District Court of Appeal. The unanimous three-judge panel ruled that the county could consider federal and county regulations as "special circumstances" in approving variance requests. The controversy was centered on some of Santa Cruz County's most desirable real estate, namely, Beach Drive, next to Rio Del Mar Beach, in Aptos. In 1996, Jim and Judi Craik purchased a house at 415 Beach D...

Guideline Authors Allege Misreading; State supreme Court to Decide

Aug 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 08 Aug 2000

The two principal authors of the 1998 revisions to the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines say a recent appellate court decision misinterpreted the Guidelines. The case, Friends of Sierra Madre v. City of Sierra Madre, (1999) 76 Cal.App.4th 1061, has since been accepted for review by the state Supreme Court. Last December, the Second District Court of Appeal overturned an election in which voters approved a city-sponsored ballot measure to remove 29 properties from the city's Register of H...

Proposition 218: Appelate Court Upholds Rental Tax; No Election Necessary

Aug 1, 2000

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 15 No. 08 Aug 2000

The Fourth District Court of Appeal has turned away a Proposition 218-based challenge to the City of San Diego's tax on rental residences. The court held that the tax is an excise tax that is not subject to the provisions of Proposition 218, the "Right to Vote on Taxes Act" of 1996. San Diego began assessing a "rental unit business tax" on apartments and hotels in 1942. The tax evolved over the years, and in 1992 was extended to cover all residential properties available for rent, including ...

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