California State Senator Scott Wiener is taking another whack at seriously addressing the state’s housing supply crisis with a bill that would create new state zoning requirements for high-density residential development near certain high-quality public transit. And this time the bill would apply to certain communities that are considered to be “job-rich” by virtue of their proximity to jobs, high area median income, and high-quality public schools, even in the absence of high-quality transit. This key part of the bill would help ensure that more affluent communities do their part to alleviate the state’s critical housing shortage. At the same time, however, the bill seeks to protect against the displacement of renters and “sensitive communities” at risk of displacement.
Second General Plan Consistency Challenge to Re-Approval of Wal-Mart Expansion Project Fails on Procedural Grounds
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
Posted in Land Use
On September 26, 2018, the First District Court of Appeal partially published Atwell v. City of Rohnert Park, __ Cal.App.5th __ (2018) (Case Nos. A151896, A153011), a decision originally filed on September 18, 2018, addressing important procedural defenses in connection with the approval and subsequent re-approval of a Wal-Mart expansion project.
Court Rules in Favor of Coastal Commission and City in Constitutional Challenge to Land Use Plan Amendments
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
On October 17, 2018, in Beach and Bluff Conservancy v. City of Solana Beach, __ Cal.App.5th __ (2018) (Case No. D072304), the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled against a coastal property owner’s group in its facial challenge to amendments to the City of Solana Beach’s Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan. The amendments adopted policies encouraging greater public access and restricting the use of seawalls and other shoreline protection devices.
Court Denies NIMBY Challenge to West Los Angeles Mixed-Use Project
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
Posted in General and Specific Plans, Land Use
On October 1, 2018, in Westsiders Opposed to Overdevelopment v. City of Los Angeles, __ Cal.App.5th __ (2018) (Case No. B285458), the Second District Court of Appeal denied an appeal challenging the City of Los Angeles’ approval of the Martin Expo Town Center, an 800,000 square foot mixed-use project on a five-acre site in West Los Angeles. The project includes the demolition of Martin Cadillac, along with the construction of 516 residential units in a seven story building, 99,000 of ground floor retail space, and 200,000 square feet of office floor area in a ten story building.
Continue Reading Court Denies NIMBY Challenge to West Los Angeles Mixed-Use Project
New Law Provides Land Use Authority to BART to Create Transit-Oriented Development Near Stations
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 2923, which gives the Bay Area Rapid Transit District land use authority for transit-oriented development on the land it already owns near existing and planned stations. The District intends to use the law to fully build out BART-owned land around its stations by 2040.
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Important Martin’s Beach Public Access Case
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
On October 1, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Martins Beach 1, LLC v. Surfrider Foundation (Docket No. 17-119), a high-profile property rights case involving Martin’s Beach in the County of San Mateo.
Continue Reading U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Important Martin’s Beach Public Access Case
City’s Mishandling of CEQA and Resulting Construction Delay Does Not Create Takings Liability
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
In 2005, in Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously overruled the first prong of a regulatory takings test established 25 years earlier, in Agins v. City of Tiburon. In Agins, the Court held that a regulation effects a taking if it (1) does not “substantially advance legitimate state interests” or (2) “denies an owner economically viable use of his land.” Writing for a unanimous Court in Lingle, then Justice Sandra Day O’Connor recognized that “the language the Court selected [in Agins] was regrettably imprecise” and “reveals nothing about the magnitude or character of the burden a particular regulation imposes upon private property rights.”
Court Rejects Residents’ Takings Lawsuits for Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is the site of the ancient Portuguese Bend and Abalone Cove landslides, both of which remain active. In 1978, in response to movement of the Abalone Cove landslide, the City adopted an “urgency ordinance” establishing the “Landslide Moratorium Area,” which generally prohibits new residential development in the landslide area. The moratorium area is divided into eight zones of varying stability. The ordinance and subsequent amendments created various categories of exceptions to and exclusions from the moratorium that have been the subject of extensive litigation.
California Supreme Court Confirms That Referendum Petition Can Challenge Zoning Intended to be Made Consistent with General Plan
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
On August 23, 2018, the California Supreme Court held, in City of Morgan Hill v. Bushey, __ Cal.4th __ (2018) (Case No. S243042), that a referendum petition to challenge a zoning ordinance amendment that would bring the ordinance into compliance with the county’s or city’s general plan is valid, even though such a referendum would temporarily leave in place zoning that does not comply with the general plan, at least if the local agency has other means to make the ordinance consistent with the plan. The Court reasoned that such a referendum simply keeps the underlying inconsistency in place for a certain time––until the local agency can make the zoning ordinance consistent with general plan.
House of Representatives Again Passes Private Property Rights Protection Act
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
Posted in Takings
On July 23, 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2017 (H.R. 1689). Sponsored by Wisconsin Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the Act intends to address Kelo v. City of New London, the controversial 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision that affirmed the right of a city to use the power of eminent domain to take and transfer property from one private party to another for the “public purpose” of economic development.
Continue Reading House of Representatives Again Passes Private Property Rights Protection Act