In Meinhardt v. City of Sunnyvale (2024) 16 Cal.5th 643 (“Meinhardt”), the California Supreme Court resolved a split in authorities over a procedural matter that will give CEQA litigants some certainty about when an appeal must be filed.
When a party loses their case in a California superior court they are entitled to
On March 29, 2024, the First District Court of Appeal issued its partially published opinion in the case of Vichy Springs Resort, Inc. v. City of Ukiah (2024) 101 Cal.App.5th 46. In the published portion of the case, the Court held that the completion of a project to reconstruct a gun range (“Project”)
In a highly-anticipated case revolving around development impact fees, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, 144 S.Ct. 893 (2024) that legislatively-imposed conditions on building permits are not exempt from scrutiny. Although the decision can certainly be characterized as a victory for those facing sometimes exorbitant impact fees
In Move Eden Housing v. City of Livermore (2024) 100 Cal.App.5th 263, the First District Court of Appeal overturned the trial court and held that the City of Livermore (City) City Clerk was required to process a referendum challenging the decision by the City to enter into a development agreement (Project) with Eden Housing, Inc.
In Koi Nation of Northern California v. City of Clearlake, the Lake County Superior Court (in a judgment dated December 22, 2023) upheld the City of Clearlake’s (“City”) determination, under the substantial evidence standard, that resources not listed on a historic register failed to qualify as tribal cultural resources (“TCR”). The Court also held
In Guerrero et al v. City of Los Angeles (January 17, 2024, No. B326033 c/w B327032) ___Cal.App.5th___, the Second District Court of Appeal held that the project opponents did not timely file their CEQA lawsuit. The published opinion reverses a trial court decision that had found the lawsuit to be timely and concluded that environmental
In Yes In My Back Yard v. City of Culver City (2023) 96 Cal.App.5th 1103, the Second District Court of Appeal (“Court”) held that the City of Culver City (“City”) violated Government Code section 66300 (“Section 66300”)—a part of the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, also known as SB 330 (“SB 330”)—when it adopted
In Tsakopoulos Investments v. County of Sacramento (2023) 95 Cal. App. 5th 280, the Third District Court of Appeal (“Court”) upheld the County of Sacramento’s (“County”) certification of the Mather South Community Master Plan (the “Master Plan” or “Project”) environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In the published portion
In California Construction and Industrial Materials Association v. County of Ventura (2023) 97 Cal.App.5th 1, the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association and the Ventura County Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business separately and unsuccessfully petitioned for writs of mandate to require the County of Ventura to vacate an ordinance creating a wildlife migration corridor. The
The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Historic Architecture Alliance v. City of Laguna Beach (2023) 96 Cal.App.5th 186, found that the City of Laguna Beach’s (“City”) findings for the use of the Class 31 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption to approve the renovation and extension of a historic single-family home (“Project”), and