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By William W. Abbott

The debate over local regulation of plastic bags has triggered three published appellate court decisions. Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach (2011) 52 Cal.4th 155, Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. County of Marin (2013) 218 Cal.App.4th 209 and Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City and County of San Francisco (2014) 222 Cal.App.4th 863. The current state of environmental politics in Sacramento indicate that an accord has been reached on plastic bags, the result will likely be a set of uniform laws statewide to level the playing field (SB 270). However, an unexpected backlash has developed. With an almost Tea Party like fervor, a series of loose knit groups, callings themselves the Friends of Plastic Bags have surfaced around the state with purpose of qualifying local initiatives preserving the right to use non-reusable plastic bags free from state regulation (and state imposed expense.) A professor specializing in California politics, H. W. Johnson (coincidentally the great grandson of California’s champion of the initiative process, Hiram Johnson) of the University of California Riverside, has been studying this latest political movement. "The motives behind this are very mixed. There is no one simple explanation for what is driving this. For some, the thought of having vegetables in close contact with fruits strikes people as unhealthy, almost like some exotic foreign custom. They just can’t get their heads around it. For others, it’s a backlash against an all-knowing government. For a very small but measureable minority, they think Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer are behind the state legislation, which in my opinion puts them in the same league as the Flat Earth Society. However, this is not some wack job movement running rampant in California’s hinterlands, but it is happening in well educated, high income communities like Playa Blanco, Park Terrace, and San Remo. It defies conventional political wisdom. We may be witnessing a significant political sea change in California."Continue Reading “Pro-Plastic Bag Initiatives Headed to the Ballot? Possible End Run to Pending Legislation.”

Abbott & Kindermann, LLP is pleased to announce that Diane Kindermann will be a member of the faculty for “Proactive Subdivision Map and Entitlement Strategies Post-Recession in California,” a continuing education seminar to be held in Palm Desert, CA by Lorman Education Services. As Ms. Kindermann’s guest, you are eligible for 20% off the registration …

By William W. Abbott

Tower Lane Properties v. City of Los Angeles (February 28, 2014, B244092) ___ Cal.App.4th ___. This one is not complicated. Facing an applicant’s request for a grading permit on a hillside to construct three homes and accessory uses on three existing parcels, the city required the property owner to obtain a tentative map. The requirement stemmed from the city’s ordinance which specified that a map was required if grading activity involved a hillside site of 60,000 square feet or more. The city offered a waiver of the map requirement, conditioned upon completion of CEQA documentation. Passing on the waiver option, the applicant filed suit to set aside the requirement to process the tentative map as no subdivision was involved.Continue Reading City Subdivision Regulations Do Not Apply To Family Compound On Existing Lots

Join William Abbott and Kate Hart of Abbott & Kindermann, LLP in a new class which ties together best practices for land development projects. This is an advanced class aimed primarily at project managers, engineers, and development consultants. This intense, three hour class interprets and applies:

  • CEQA
  • Permit Streamlining Act
  •  Subdivision Map Act
  • Clean Water Act
  • Endangered Species Act
  • Updating Existing Entitlements

Continue Reading Register Today – Proactive Land Use Entitlement Strategies For Raw Land And Updates To Existing Entitlements Class

By Glen Hansen

Your neighbor builds (or wants to build) an ornate wall between your two properties. Then your neighbor emails to you the invoice, and asks you to contribute one-half the cost of the edifice. Do you have to pay if the cost of the wall is excessive in your opinion? What if you can barely afford half the cost of a chain link fence, let alone THAT wall? Prior to January 1, 2014, the law was not too helpful in answering those questions.Continue Reading So Your Neighbor Wants To Build An Ornate Wall Between Your Adjoining Properties – In The Absence Of An Agreement, Who Pays?

Join William Abbott and Kate Hart of Abbott & Kindermann, LLP in a new class which ties together best practices for land development projects. This is an advanced class aimed primarily at project managers, engineers, and development consultants. This intense, three hour class interprets and applies:

  • CEQA
  • Permit Streamlining Act
  •  Subdivision Map Act
  • Clean Water Act
  • Endangered Species Act
  • Updating Existing Entitlements

Continue Reading 2nd Annual Class – Proactive Land Use Entitlement Strategies For Raw Land And Updates To Existing Entitlements

By Glen Hansen

In Tuthill v. City of San Buenaventura (2014) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held that a trial court could not apply equitable principles to circumvent the statutory scheme of public entity immunity embodied in Government Code section 815 et seq, in order to award damages against a city based on the city’s failure to disclose affordable housing restrictions that applied to plaintiffs’ townhomes.Continue Reading Even If The Policies Behind Affordable Housing Are Thwarted, A Court May Not Use “Equitable Principles” To Avoid Public Entity Immunity In The Tort Claims Act.

Abbott & Kindermann, LLP is pleased to announce that Diane Kindermann Henderson will be a member of the faculty for “Real Estate Development from Beginning to End in California (After the Storm),” a continuing education seminar to be held in Sacramento, CA by Lorman Education Services. As Ms. Kindermann’s guest, you are eligible for 50% …