Planning and Zoning

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2015 and 2016 Year2015 was a banner year for CEQA rulings by the California Supreme Court, with four decisions handed down, each of which addressed key issues in the application of the statute and its governing regulations: Berkeley Hillside clarified the application of the “unusual circumstances” exception to categorical exemptions; City of San Diego addressed the feasibility of offsite mitigation; Center for Biological Diversity set new parameters for analysis of greenhouse gas emissions; and CBIA confirmed that CEQA does not address the environment’s impact on a project.

In an unpublished opinion, Cal. Clean Energy Comm. V. County of Placer, 2015 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 9360, the Third Appellate District granted California Clean Energy Committee’s (Clean Energy) petition for writ of mandate challenging the County of Placer’s (County) approval of a proposal to expand an existing ski resort on the West Shore of…

In Banning Ranch Conservancy v. City of Newport Beach 2015 Cal. App. LEXIS 436, the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld an approval by the City of Newport Beach (City) of a development project on 400 acres of undeveloped coastal property with active oilfield operations (Project). The Project consisted of developing one-fourth of the area…

On April 1, 2015, Citizens for Positive Growth & Preservation filed a petition for a writ of mandate in Sacramento Superior Court seeking to invalidate the City of Sacramento’s (City) recent adoption of its 2035 General Plan.

After a “major overhaul” of its 1988 General Plan and adoption of the 2030 General Plan in 2009,…

In an unpublished opinion in Redlands Good Neighbor Coalition v. City of Redlands, 2015 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 2210, the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s decision and denied petitioner’s challenges under the Subdivision Map Act and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to the City of Redlands’ (City) approval of…

In an unpublished decision in Concerned Residents of Benedict Canyon v. City of L.A., 2015 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 989, the California Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s decision and held no actual case or controversy existed after the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) recommended that the Los Angeles Planning Department…

In an unpublished decision, Lookout Point Alliance v. City of Newport Beach, (2014) Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 4214, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth District upheld the trial court’s denial of a petition for a writ of mandamus challenging the City of Newport Beach’s approval of a merger of two residential lots.

In…

In the unpublished case Friends of Appleton-Wolfard Libraries v. City and County of San Francisco, (2014) Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 3384, the Court of Appeal for the First District upheld the trial court’s denial of a writ of mandate challenging the City’s certification of a Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

The project consists of developing…

In Sierra Club v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47871, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California granted the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s (TRPA) motion for summary judgment and upheld TRPA’s 2012 Regional Plan Update (RPU).

The Regional Plan, which was adopted in 1987, governs land-use planning…