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By William W. Abbott

Local governments are stunned to learn that over the weekend they were thrown under the bus by the President and Speaker John Boehner. Hidden in the fine language of the new draft federal budget compromise was a presidential suspension of billboard regulation along federal interstate highways. “The result”, said a spokeswoman for the National Association of Counties, Cities and Towns, “is a advertising free fire zone snaking throughout the country on both sides of federally supported highways. The bottom line is that no agency will be able to control the size, type or number of billboard displays. It’s a disgrace. How many billboards does society really need which advertise hair implants for men going bald?”Continue Reading Breaking Local Government Land Use News: Obama suspends billboard regulations along interstate highways.

By William W. Abbott

Schmeer v. County of Los Angeles (February 2, 2013, B240592) ___Cal.App.4th ___. The County of Los Angeles enacted an ordinance prohibiting retail stores from providing plastic carryout bags and requiring the stores to charge customers 10 cents for each paper bag provided. Among other provisions, the ordinance provided that the money received by the store for recyclable paper carryout bags must be retained by the store and used only for (1) the costs of compliance with the ordinance; (2) the actual costs of providing recyclable paper bags; or (3) the costs of educational materials or other costs of promoting the use of reusable bags.Continue Reading 10 Cent Per Bag Charge Included as Part of An Ordinance Encouraging Use of Recyclable Grocery Bags Was Not Subject to Proposition 26

By Glen C. Hansen

Lost Tree Village Corp. v. United States, ___ F.3d ___, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 690 (Fed.Cir. 2013). Between 1968 and 1974, Lost Tree Village Corporation (“Lost Tree”) purchased approximately 2,750 acres of property on Florida’s mid-Atlantic coast, which included a barrier island on the Atlantic Ocean. That property included 4.99 acres now known as Plat 57, which is part of the entire peninsula known as the Island of John’s Island. From 1969 through the mid-1990s, Lost Tree developed approximately 1,300 acres it purchased into the upscale gated residential community of John’s Island. The development was made in a piecemeal manner, and not as a master-planned community.Continue Reading US Army Corps Denies A §404 Permit: Can A Takings Claim Be Based On Consideration Of The Economic Affect On the Wetlands Parcel Only?

By William W. Abbott

Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona (9th Cir. Feb. 8, 2013, No. 11-15588) ___F.3d ___.

As part of its overall regulatory code, the City of Gilbert, Arizona enacted various sign regulations. The regulations generally require a City issued sign permit unless the sign qualifies under one of nineteen different exceptions. Three of the nineteen exceptions involved (1) temporary directional signs for a qualifying event, (2) political signs and (3) ideological signs. Temporary directional signs subject to the exemption were subject to specific limitations not applicable to political and ideological signs including size, location (excluded from public right of way), and duration (same day only).Continue Reading Born (again) Under a Bad Sign: Ninth Circuit Upholds Ordinance Restricting Duration, Location, Quantity, And Size Of Directional Signs for Church Services

By William W. Abbott

Summit Media LLC v. City of Los Angeles (December 10, 2012, B220198) ___Cal.App.4th ___.

In many situations, the settlement of a lawsuit is a flexible tool to resolve disagreements between parties and allow the participants to move on with their lives. A settlement with a public agency invokes slightly different considerations then a matter resolved exclusively through private parties. As previously noted in Trancas Property Owners Association v. City of Malibu (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 172 , a public agency cannot rely upon a settlement agreement to bypass a required land use approval step.Continue Reading When A Deal Is Not A Deal

By William W. Abbott

Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates, LLC v. City of Los Angeles (November 29, 2012, S187243) ___Cal.4th ___. In a 6 to 1 decision, the California Supreme Court concluded that mobilehome park conversions subject to Government Code section 66427.5 of the Subdivision Map Act are also subject to the Coastal Act and Mello Act (the latter for affordable housing in the Coastal zone.) In 1991, the Legislature enacted Government Code section 66427.5. This new code section set forth the particular determinations under the Subdivision Map Act when local government was processing a subdivision map application for conversion of a rental park to an owner occupied park and was intended to narrow the scope of local government inquiry which might otherwise be permitted by the Subdivision Map Act when processing other types of proposed subdivisions. The 1991 legislation included language which stated, in conjunction with local government review of the tentative map, that “The scope of the hearing shall be limited to the issue of compliance with this section.”Continue Reading Mobilehome Park Conversions Trigger Coastal and Mello Act Compliance Requirements

By Katherine J. Hart

In Rialto Citizens for Responsible Growth v. City of Rialto (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 899 (Rialto Citizens), the City of Rialto (City) and Walmart appealed a trial court’s grant of writ of mandate invalidating the City’s approval of a 230,000-square-foot commercial shopping center to be anchored by a 24-hour Walmart Supercenter. In its decision, the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, discussed public interest standing to challenge a CEQA project, the import of defective notice of a public hearing, whether the approval of the development agreement missing a general/specific plan consistency finding was valid, and a myriad of other CEQA issues such as the adequacy of (1) the project description, (2) cumulative impact analyses on traffic and air quality, (3) the greenhouse gas analysis, and (4) mitigation measures for biological impacts, and whether the City properly rejected the reduced density alternative as infeasible.Continue Reading Multiple Harmless Errors Do Not Require Project Approvals Be Overturned Unless Prejudice Is Shown

By William W. Abbott

Within the Subdivision Map Act (Map Act), the processing of a mobilehome park conversion (from rental to individual ownership) invokes some of the more complex procedures, and from a local government perspective, potentially involves an application with a lot of emotional baggage. Unlike other Map Act related applications, park conversions involve a tenant survey, the results of which have been the subject of a several appellate court decisions. The recent appellate opinion in Chino MHC, LP v. City of Chino (October 31, 2012, E053467) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, provides guidance in two areas: what is the effect under the Permit Streamlining Act of a city determination that an application is complete when later reviewing the mandated tenant survey form, and, are the results of the tenant survey the basis to deny a conversion request?Continue Reading Appellate Court Applies Permit Streamlining Act to Affirm Effect of City Acknowledging Completeness of Application; Restricts Consideration of Tenant Survey in Mobilehome Park Conversion Application

By William W. Abbott

In case you missed the recent legal tremor, be advised that land use practitioners are looking at two appellate districts in conflict with one another over the application of CEQA to a citizen sponsored land use measure. In Tuolumne Jobs & Small Business Alliance v. Superior Court (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) (October 30, 2012, F063849) ___Cal.App.4th ___, the facts involve the efforts of Wal-Mart to seek an expansion of an existing store in the City of Sonora. An EIR was prepared by the City, and the Planning Commission recommended approval. Before the matter was considered by the City Council, an initiative was filed, the effect of which would change the land use regulations on the Wal-Mart parcel, and dispense with the need for a discretionary permit. Once the city determined that the initiative petition contained the requisite number of signatures, the City Council had two basic choices: enact the measure as its own without modification or place it on the ballot. With the belief that CEQA did not apply, the City Council chose the former option and enacted the initiative measure as its own. Litigation challenging the approval ensued, including a claim that the City Council was required to complete the CEQA process first. The City and Wal-Mart demurred to the petition/complaint, which the trial court sustained. Petitioners then filed a writ petition with the Fifth Appellate District which granted the writ as to the CEQA claim, effectively reinstating the claim at the trial court.Continue Reading Appellate Court Draws Line In Sand Requiring CEQA Review Before City Council Enactment of Land Use Measure

By Katherine J. Hart

In addressing their fair share regional housing needs, cities are required to include in their housing elements, site inventory for parcels able to be developed with multifamily housing for seniors and low income residents. However, when surrounding parcels have been built out, existing homeowners may object to the inclusion of such housing in their neighborhood.Continue Reading General Plan Inconsistencies Created By Revisions To Housing Element Can Be Remedied Through Timely Implementation Plan To Conform Inconsistent Elements