CP&DR

Voters In Napa County, SF, SoCal To Decide Measures

May 1, 2008

California, Featured Articles, Initiatives and referendums, Paul Shigley, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

After a lull during the off-year election of 2007, land use initiatives and referendums are starting to reappear on local ballots this June. Voters in at least seven jurisdictions are scheduled to decide measures that are related directly or indirectly to what gets built and where.

Proposed Resort In Lassen County Faces Bankruptcy, Uncertainty

May 1, 2008

Lassen County, Local Watch, Paul Shigley, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

Plans to build the first new, large-scale ski resort in California in four decades — and the largest project in Lassen County history — appear to be in serious jeopardy.

The developers of the proposed Dyer Mountain Resort, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains west of Susanville, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late March. News of the filing has caused environmentalists to celebrate, and Lassen County officials to wait even longer on what supporters have called an important economic development opportunity.

The Odd Saga Of Parkland For Billboards

May 1, 2008

Deals, Los Angeles County, Morris Newman, Signs and billboards, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

Remember the cliché about "the deal you can't refuse?" The park-for-a-billboard caper in the city of Los Angeles is just such a deal. I'll tell you about it. (Just as soon, that is, as you put that bottle back in the bag where it belongs. I have no desire to add another item to my institutional resume.)

Granted, the billboard story is hard to explain, because at bottom this deal makes so little sense.

L.A. Planning Commission President Begs Lawsuit

May 1, 2008

California, CP&DR Staff, In Brief, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

In this month's roundup of land use news: The Los Angeles City Planning Commission president gets her wish – a lawsuit against the city; Rancho San Juan conflict settled in Monterey County; planning director's role as head of LAFCO upheld by court; Napa County grand jury scrutinizes farmworker housing cost overruns.

Takings Lawsuit Settlement Hinges On Legislation

May 1, 2008

CP&DR Staff, Featured Articles, San Mateo County, Takings, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

The City of Half Moon Bay has reached a settlement agreement with a developer who won a takings lawsuit against the city. Last December, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker awarded developer Charles Keenan $36.8 million in damages, plus interest and attorney's fees, because an incomplete city drainage project had transformed an approved 24-acre housing project site into an unbuildable wetland (see CP&DR In Brief, January 2008).

Requests For Public Agency Emails Cost Landowner

Apr 30, 2008

California Environmental Quality Act, Legal Digest, Marin County, Paul Shigley, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

A property owner that lost a California Environmental Quality Act suit against the City of San Rafael has been told to pay the city for costs incurred recovering emails related to the property and a proposed development project.

Environmental Review Cases Stack Up At State High Court

Apr 30, 2008

California, California Environmental Quality Act, CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

The state Supreme Court has accepted a case involving the baseline for an environmental impact report of a Southern California oil refinery project. The decision to accept the case means the state high court now has four California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) cases pending.

Grand Terrace Ordered To Prepare EIR For Senior Housing

Apr 30, 2008

California Environmental Quality Act, CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, San Bernardino County, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

An environmental impact report is necessary for a 120-unit senior housing facility in the City of Grand Terrace, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled. The unanimous three-judge appellate panel upheld a trial court judge's ruling that a mitigated negative declaration for the project was inadequate.

Baldwin Park Plans Downtown Overhaul, Meets Resistance

Apr 28, 2008

Eminent domain, Los Angeles County, Paul Shigley, Redevelopment Watch, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

The City of Baldwin Park is pressing forward with an extremely ambitious redevelopment project that would convert the present downtown area of mostly single story commercial structures and modest houses into a very high-density, mixed-use district adjacent to a Metrolink station. However, the city's extensive planning and a deal with a developer may be for naught if state voters approve eminent domain restrictions that will appear on the June ballot.

APA Award Winner Dave Brown

Apr 28, 2008

Los Angeles County, Paul Shigley, Q&A, Vol. 23 No. 05 May 2008

Dave Brown of Calabasas is this year's recipient of the American Planning Association's leadership award for a planning advocate. A member of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy advisory committee since 1985 and a Calabasas planning commissioner since 1992, Brown has been involved in land use and natural resources issues in the area since the 1970s. He received the award in part for his "overlooked but instrumental" role in creating the 153,000-acre Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. For 45 years he has been a history professor at Los Angeles Valley College, where he still teaches two classes. Brown spoke with CP&DR Editor Paul Shigley in April.