A prescriptive easement claimant does not have to show that claimant paid the taxes on a separately assessed railway easement that ran along the same land as the prescriptive easement because the two easements were not coextensive in use.
Continue Reading “Payment of Taxes May Be Required For A Prescriptive Easement, But Only If Defendant Can Prove The Easement Has Been Separately Assessed”
Map Didn’t Constitute Admissible Parol Evidence; Berm Maintenance Requirement Falls on the City
In the case of Coronado Cays Homeowners Association v. City of Coronado (2011) ___ Cal. App.4th ___, City of Coronado (“City”) appealed a trial court’s grant of declaratory relief to the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association (“Association”) regarding the question of whether the City or the association was required to maintain a berm.
Continue Reading Map Didn’t Constitute Admissible Parol Evidence; Berm Maintenance Requirement Falls on the City
Medical Marijuana Dispensaries 0 for 3 Against Local Government
A medical marijuana dispensary fights to invalidate the County of Los Angeles’ ordinance regulating dispensaries, but the appellate court finds in favor of the county.
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The Normal Rules Don’t Apply When it Comes to Affordable Housing Projects
By Cori Badgley
After a challenge based on the density bonus law and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a mixed-use affordable housing or senior affordable housing project (depending on what the developer chooses) in the City of Berkeley can move forward. In Wollmer v. City of Berkeley (March 30, 2011, Case No. A128121), the court held that the city properly applied density bonuses to the project and the categorical infill exemption under CEQA.Continue Reading The Normal Rules Don’t Apply When it Comes to Affordable Housing Projects
If You Don’t Like What You See, Don’t Look
By Leslie Z. Walker
The First Amendment Free Speech clause states, “Congress . . . shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech.” The political and moral conduct of the United States and its citizens, the fate of our Nation, homosexuality in the military and scandals involving the Catholic clergy, are matters of public import meriting the protection of the Free Speech Clause. In Snyder v. Phelps (2011) 562 U.S. ____ 131 S. Ct. 1207, the Supreme Court found that members of Westboro Baptist Church picketing the funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq were entitled to special protection under the First Amendment because the picketing was done at a public place on a matter of public concern.Continue Reading If You Don’t Like What You See, Don’t Look
Exemption to APAs Promolgation Rule was Inapplicable
By Katherine J. Hart
In Bollay, et al. v. California Office of Administrative Law, et al. (2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 103 the Court of Appeal Third Appellate District (Court), considered whether a State Lands Commission (Commission) policy prohibiting development seaward of the most landward historical position of the mean high tide line was an invalid underground regulation because it was not promulgated as a regulation pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).
Continue Reading Exemption to APAs Promolgation Rule was Inapplicable
Update In Local Government Legal News
City officials in Playa Del Toro, an upscale enclave in Southern California, recently adopted an ordinance regulating dog use of the public beach. Unlike other cities, it wasn’t a case of banning dogs from the beach, but restricting access to the right kind of dogs: purebreds.
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Romancing the Smokestack: How Cities and States Pursue Prosperity
Join the Sacramento Valley APA for a discussion with Renaissance Planner Bill Fulton on the good, the bad, and the ugly of economic development based on his new book: Romancing the Smokestack: How Cities and States Pursue Prosperity
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AB 32 Scoping Plan Enjoined
San Francisco Superior Court enjoined the implementation of the Air Resources Board’s Climate Change Scoping Plan, finding the alternatives analysis and public review process violated both CEQA and the Air Resources Board’s certified regulatory program.
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General Plan Goal of Creating Employment Opportunities Insufficient Basis to Thwart Church Rezoning Request
By William W. Abbott
The "Faith" Fellowship Foursquare Church (“Church”) is a church active in the City of San Leandro, but as its membership grew with the passage of time, the Church outgrew its existing facilities. Starting in 2006, the Church began searching for a new location and eventually settled on property on Catalina Street, located in an industrial park. The park was located in an area designated by the City’s general plan for industrial technological activity. In March 2006, the Church entered into a purchase agreement for the Catalina property.Continue Reading General Plan Goal of Creating Employment Opportunities Insufficient Basis to Thwart Church Rezoning Request