Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley (2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 943. 

By William W. Abbott

The history of the controversial home in the Berkeley Hills is well documented. (Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley (2015) 60 Cal.4th 1086 (The California Supreme Court Tackles CEQA’s Gordian Knot: Unusual Circumstances and CEQA Exemptions [

By Glen C. Hansen 

Siskiyou County Farm Bureau v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife (2015) 237 Cal.App.4th 411.

California Fish and Game Code sections 1600 et seq. were adopted in 1961 to ensure that the California Department of Fish and Game (now the Department of Fish and Wildlife, or “Department”) was notified for

By Glen C. Hansen

In Scher v. Burke (2015) 240 Cal.App.4th 381, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held, in the published portion of the decision: (1) that Civil Code section 1009 bars all use of non-coastal private real property, not simply recreational use of such property, from ever ripening into an implied dedication to the public after the March 4, 1972 effective date of that statute; and (2) that evidence about the use of a road on private property after that date cannot support a finding that the road was impliedly dedicated to public use prior to that date. (In the unpublished portion of the decision, the Court of Appeal examined extensive historical evidence and affirmed the trial court’s judgment that Plaintiffs had not established their right to an express, prescriptive, or equitable easement for access across Defendants’ properties. A copy of the entire Court of Appeal decision can be found here.)

Continue Reading Court of Appeal Disagrees With Other Courts And Holds That California Civil Code Section 1009 Bars All Use Of Private Real Property From Developing Into An Implied Public Dedication, Not Just Recreational Use.

Join William Abbott of Abbott & Kindermann, LLP in a 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

By William W. Abbott, Diane G. Kindermann, Glen Hansen, Brian Russell and Dan Cucchi

Welcome to Abbott & Kindermann’s 2015 3rd Quarter CEQA update. This summary provides links to more in depth case write-ups on the firm’s blog. The case names of the newest decisions start with Section 3 and are denoted by bold

Join William Abbott of Abbott & Kindermann, LLP in a 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

Join William Abbott of Abbott & Kindermann, LLP in a 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

Glen C. Hansen of Abbott & Kindermann, LLP, will present the 2nd annual update on recent developments in resolving easement and boundary disputes in California. This is an advanced class aimed primarily at land surveyors, civil engineers, attorneys, and property owners. This intense, three-hour class examines recent case law about:

  • Creating and Terminating Easements

By William W. Abbott

City of San Diego v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, S199557, Supreme Court of California, 2015 Cal. LEXIS 5291, August 3, 2015

The California Supreme Court cleared the air over one of its earlier CEQA decisions concerning the responsibility of CSU to consider and mitigate for offsite impacts. In 2006, the Court determined that CSU Monterey was not precluded from mitigating for offsite impacts occurring in the City of Marina. City of Marina v. Board of Trustees of California State University (2006) 39 Cal.4th 341. In the Marina decision, the court stated “[A] state agency’s power to mitigate its project’s effects through voluntary mitigation payments is ultimately subject to legislative control; if the Legislature does not appropriate the money, the power does not exist.” The University system is directed by a Board of Trustees, who, in reliance upon the above quoted language in Marina, determined that the University was not authorized to engage in offsite mitigation absent a specific legislative appropriation.Continue Reading WILL CSU EVER GRADUATE FROM CEQA SCHOOL?

By Glen Hansen

In Shoen v. Zacarias (2015) 237 Cal.App.4th 16, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held that the hardship that a trespasser would have in removing her portable patio furniture from a neighbor’s property would not be “greatly disproportionate” to the hardship on the neighbor in losing the trespassed-upon portion of that neighbor’s property occupied by the furniture, and so the trespasser was not entitled to an equitable easement to maintain that furniture on the neighbor’s property.Continue Reading An Equitable Easement To Keep Your Patio Furniture On Your Neighbor’s Property?