Photo of Abbott & Kindermann, Inc.

Abbott & Kindermann, Inc.

Subscribe to Abbott & Kindermann, Inc.'s Posts
Follow:Read more about Abbott & Kindermann, Inc.Jeaninne's Linkedin Profile

By Glen Hansen

In Nielsen v. Gibson (October 13, 2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 318, the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District held that a couple who bought property from the record owner’s parents while the owner was permanently out of the country was entitled to a judgment for quiet title because the couple improved, maintained, fenced and irrigated the property, and paid the property taxes for almost 10 years.Continue Reading Leaving the Country? You’re Still on Notice of the Adverse Possessors on Your Property

By William W. Abbott

The Santa Barbara COG is the local transportation authority for Santa Barbara County. As authorized by statute, the COG approved Measure A, which consisted of a sales tax measure for voter approval for transportation improvements and an investment plan, which served as the statutory Expenditure Plan.
Continue Reading Approval of a Sales Tax Measure and an Investment Plan by the Regional Transportation Planning Body, as Part of a Sales Tax Measure to be Submitted to the Voters, Qualifies as Exempt from CEQA

By Cori Badgley

Traditionally, land use planning generally has been left to counties and cities. On a selected basis, the legislature has intervened and added an overlapping layer of state regulation, such as the Coastal Commission, Cal TRPA and BCDC. With state mandated housing elements, cities in particular have had to take a more regional perspective in addressing housing needs. SB 375 in 2008 added to the subtle shift in the local-state planning paradigm. Now, the state is embarking on an unprecedented process to create a preferred land use scenario for all of California. This process is called Vision California, and it has a 2050 planning horizon.
Continue Reading Vision California: Centralization of Land Use Planning at the State Level?

By William W. Abbott

Begun as a ministry in the 1850’s to help the poorest of poor in East London, the Salvation Army came to the United States in 1880. As a small part of its overall mission of the salvation of souls ,the Salvation Army developed three farm colonies in the United States: Fort Romie (California), Fort Amity (Colorado) and Fort Herrick (Ohio). Fort Romie, located two miles south-southwest from Soledad, Monterey County, was the first of these colonies. The objective was to relocate impoverished city dwelling to rural locations where they could enjoy a healthy physical and spiritual lifestyle as farmers. The Army’s battle cry was to return the landless man to the manless land.
Continue Reading When a Fort is a Home: The Salvation Army, Fort Romie and Connecting Landless Men with Manless Land

By Cori Badgley

In Guggenheim v. City of Goleta (2009) 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 21313, the court made two important rulings: a challenge to an ordinance on its face, instead of as applied to plaintiffs, could be brought as a regulatory taking claim and a mobile home park rent control ordinance constituted a regulatory taking under Penn Central. Courts have rarely upheld regulatory takings claims, and for a rent control ordinance to be found a taking would appear to greatly expand the possible situations in which a regulatory taking has occurred.
Continue Reading Take This! Wealth-Transfer under Rent Control Ordinance Constitutes a Regulatory Taking

By William W. Abbott

One of the more intriguing early settlements in California involves the Polish colony in Anaheim. The story begins in Poland, and centers on a young aspiring actress, Helena Modjeska. Born Helena Opid in 1840, Modjeska at a relatively early age gained great fame and recognition as an actress. Her work as an actress brought her in contact with the prominent literati and liberals of time. At the time, Poland had been partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria, and the desire for unification and freedom was met with unbending, brutal responses by the occupiers.
Continue Reading Colonies & Settlements: The Polish Colony in Anaheim

By Katherine Hart

Senate Bill 448 sponsored by Fran Pavley was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger on October 11, 2009. The bill establishes the California State Safe Harbor Agreement Program Act (the “Act”) and adds provisions to the California Fish and Game Code. It will become effective on January 1, 2010.
Continue Reading Conservation Pays: New Statutory Protection for Landowners to “Take” Protected Species

By Glen Hansen

The ongoing mortgage crisis in California’s residential real estate market reinforces the current importance of California’s Home Equity Sales Contract Act law (“HESCA”), which is codified in Civil Code section 1695 et seq. Several cases in 2009 applying HESCA demonstrate how courts will enforce the strict requirements of that statute.
Continue Reading Case Law in 2009 Underscores the Strict Requirements of California’s Home Equity Sales Contract Act

By Cori Badgley

In San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District v. San Bernardino Local Agency Formation Commission (2009) 173 Cal.App.4th 190, the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District addressed the statutory interpretation of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Gov. Code, §§ 56000 et seq., 57000 et seq.) (“CKH Act”) as it relates to water districts. Specifically, San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District (“SBVWCD”) argued that the repeal of certain sections in the Water Code relating to consolidation meant that LAFCo had no authority over the consolidation of water districts. The appellate court disagreed.
Continue Reading Are Small, Special Purpose Districts an Endangered Species?