Two referendums of large housing projects in the City of Loma Linda have been reinstated by the Fourth District Court of Appeal. The court overturned a Superior Court judge's decision to pull the referendums from the June 2006 ballot because referendum petitions failed to contain the full text of challenged ordinances. The Fourth District found the petitions to be legally adequate, clearing the referendums to appear on ballots in 2009.
Calling Proposition 13, "deeply flawed," a new report by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy recommends entirely new approaches to property tax relief.
A federal judge's ruling blocking development of a controversial condominium project on the shore of Big Bear Lake has been thrown out by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Ninth Circuit ruled that the district court had no jurisdiction to consider alleged Clean Water Act violations because environmental groups' notices to the developer regarding potential violations of the act were inadequate and federal agencies were already forcing corrective action. The Ninth Circuit further rejected alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act as both bogus and moot.
Denial of a conditional use permit renewal is a "project" requiring review under the California Environmental Quality Act, the Third District Court of Appeal has determined. The court ruled for the owner of an airport in Sacramento County whose application for a conditional use permit (CUP) renewal was denied by the county Board of Supervisors without any environmental review.