Construction projects of every type in six Bay area counties—Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara—may resume operations on Monday, May 4, after health officers in six counties issued new shelter-in-place orders on April 29. While the new orders ease the rules in numerous ways, including certain outdoor businesses and recreation such as golf and tennis, Governor Newsom is poised to shut down California’s beaches effective Friday, May 1 after crowds defied orders in the face of a brief heat wave last weekend.
Continue Reading New Bay Area Shelter-in-Place Orders Ease Rules, Allow All Construction to Resume Operations
COVID-19
Alameda County Public Health Department Pulls Rank on Oakland, Highlights Arbitrary Treatment of Construction Under Shelter-in-Place Orders
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
On April 14, 2020, the Alameda County Public Health Department issued a letter to the Oakland Planning & Building Department criticizing the City’s interpretation of the County’s March 31 “shelter-in-place” order. Like the orders in the other Bay area counties, the stated intent of Alameda’s shelter-in-place order is to have people shelter in their residences to slow the spread of COVID-19. To that end, the order allows people to leave their residences only for specified Essential Activities, Essential Governmental Functions, Essential Travel, to work for Essential Businesses, or to perform Minimum Basic Operations for non-essential businesses. The order identifies eight types of construction as “Essential Businesses,” including “affordable housing” that contains at least 10% income-restricted units.
Continue Reading Alameda County Public Health Department Pulls Rank on Oakland, Highlights Arbitrary Treatment of Construction Under Shelter-in-Place Orders
San Francisco Asserts Sweeping Power “To Take Any Measure Necessary” to Prevent Spread of COVID-19
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
Posted in COVID-19, Property Rights
Without a single mention of the U.S. or California constitutions, the San Francisco city attorney’s office issued an April 13, 2020 memo declaring that the City may “take any measure necessary to prevent the spread of an infectious disease.”
Continue Reading San Francisco Asserts Sweeping Power “To Take Any Measure Necessary” to Prevent Spread of COVID-19
California Cities Seek Relief From Project Processing, Public Records Act, and Other Key Statutory Timelines During State of Emergency Resulting From COVID-19
By Bryan W. Wenter, AICP on
Posted in Brown Act, COVID-19, Housing, Land Use, Miscellaneous, Property Rights, Public Records, Subdivision Map Act
Seeking to piggyback on the State of Emergency Governor Gavin Newsom declared on March 4, 2020 as part of the state’s response to address the global COVID-19 pandemic, California cities filed a letter with the Governor asking him to “pause” various important statutory timelines that apply to twelve parts of state law, including several that play a central role in the ongoing housing crisis. In the six-page letter, dated March 22, 2020, the League of California Cities explains that
Continue Reading California Cities Seek Relief From Project Processing, Public Records Act, and Other Key Statutory Timelines During State of Emergency Resulting From COVID-19