by William W. Abbott and Janell M. Bogue

A proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter was cause for controversy in Anderson First Coalition v. City of Anderson (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 1173. In this case, the City of Anderson (“City”) approved a new shopping center fronted by I-5 and anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The City prepared and certified an EIR but citizens formed Anderson First Coalition (“Coalition”) to protest the project, asserting that it would cause urban decay, was inconsistent with the general plan and the zoning of the area, and did not provide proper traffic mitigation. At the trial court level, the EIR was found to be sufficient except for the project’s gas station. The trial court severed the gas station and allowed the rest of the project to proceed. The Coalition appealed and the appellate court reviewed both the adequacy of the EIR and the trial court’s decision to sever the gas station. Continue Reading Anderson First: Evaluation of Blight and Effective Mitigation

by Joel Ellinwood, AICP

California’s Court of Appeal buried the vested rights argument of a Los Angeles (“City”) business six feet under in upholding the City’s revocation of a building permit and denial of a certificate of occupancy. The court ruled for the City despite the purchaser’s purported reliance on the permit in acquiring the building and the expenditure of nearly a quarter million dollars on improvements in the six month period after the original issuance of the permit. The City pulled the permit after the applicant, doing business as “1-800-AUTOPSY,” applied for a sign permit which would prominently display the name. It was then, the City claimed, when it first realized the nature of the business and determined that it is a prohibited use within the applicable zone in the Foothill Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan area. The business, Autopsy/Post Services, Inc., (“APS”) applied for an exception to the use restrictions, but the Planning Commission denied it, ruling that an private autopsy business was the equivalent of a morgue or mortuary which are permitted uses only in an industrial zone. After administrative appeals within City government, APS filed a mandate action claiming vested rights. The trial court denied the writ and APS appealed. Continue Reading Vested Rights? Over My Dead Body!

by William W. Abbott In land use litigation, particularly CEQA cases, a successful petitioner can file a motion with the court seeking an award of attorneys fees. The award of fees is highly discretionary with the trial court, and occasionally, the trial court decisions are reversed by the appellate court. In a recent court decision, Protect Our Water v. County of Merced (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 488, the appellate court reversed a trial court’s decision refusing to award fees to a petitioner. In reversing the trial court decision, the appellate court established the threshold for what constitutes a “prevailing party” as a fairly low barrier. Continue Reading Paying the Piper in Land Use Litigation

by Joel Ellinwood, AICP

California provided the battleground for two recent significant cases that clarified the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (TCA) as it pertains to local zoning powers and the siting of wireless communication antenna facilities. The United States Supreme Court ruled in City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams, 125 S.Ct. 1453 (2005) that remedies for violation of the TCA are limited to injunctive relief and do not include the award of damages or attorney’s fees under the federal Civil Rights Act. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided in MetroPCS, Inc. v. City and County of San Francisco, 400 F.3d 715 (2005) to balance the needs of wireless companies to provide effective service and local governments to exercise zoning controls over location and appearance of sites. Taken together, the two decisions set out the “rules of engagement” for future wireless facility siting battles in California. Continue Reading Can You Hear Me Now? Proposed Cell Tower Sites Result in Controversy

by Elias E. Guzman

Eminent domain actions are guided by the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees that governments shall not take private property “for public use, without just compensation.” It is this notion of “public use” that was examined in the recent Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London, 125 S.Ct. 2655 (2005). In Kelo, the Court held that a local government body, or its agent, can in fact use eminent domain to take private property for a “private use,” as long as the taking is justified by being part of a larger economic development plan that helps or benefits the community. Continue Reading Taking Kelo For What It Is Worth

Congratulations to Abbott & Kindermann’s newest associate, Elias E. Guzman. Elias previously worked as a law clerk at Abbott & Kindermann and we are delighted that he will be joining the firm as an attorney. You can read more about Elias’ education and background at http://www.aklandlaw.com. Also, please welcome Rhonda Engel, who joined the firm on June 27 as a legal secretary.

by Joel Ellinwood, AICP and Janell M. Bogue

In May the Supreme Court announced a unanimous decision that changes 25 years of Fifth Amendment jurisprudence, eliminating the “substantially advances” test for determination of whether a government regulation results in a taking of property. In Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 544 U.S. 528 (2005), the Court said that the test first laid out in Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U.S. 255 (1980) was not appropriate for determining whether a government regulation requires compensation. This clarifies what was until now a somewhat murky and muddled area of law. Continue Reading Hawaiian Case Prompts Sea Change in Takings Law

The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region (“Regional Board”), held a Public Advisory Committee meeting regarding its Irrigated Lands Program on May 9, 2005. The Regional Board hinted that in the next few months it will begin sending Water Code, section 13267 “Investigation of Water Quality” letters to those that discharge from irrigated land in the Yuba, Butte, and Sutter County areas, in addition to the Pitt River sub-watershed area. Section 13267 investigations will often demand that the alleged discharger provide the Regional Board with information, documents, and reports about its alleged discharge from irrigated lands.

As a reminder, all those that irrigate land in the Central Valley and have the potential to discharge into waters of the state in a manner that could affect water quality must: 1) Obtain Waste Discharge Requirements, 2) Obtain Individual Discharger waivers, or 3) Obtain waivers by joining a Coalition Group.

For information on the Irrigated Lands Program and compliance requirements, contact our office, or visit our website at http://www.aklandlaw.com, or see the Regional Board’s website at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/programs/irrigated_lands/index.html.

by William W. Abbott and Janell M. Bogue Lately, infill projects have become a hot-topic development strategy, especially in established neighborhoods. In Pocket Protectors v. City of Sacramento (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 903, the developer proposed an infill project on a long, narrow strip of vacant land subject to a PUD zoning designation. The PUD called for the construction of townhouses in the project area, but the developer instead wanted to build a double row of single-family homes along a private street. Initially, the City was supportive. But even before preparation of the draft Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), neighbors began to complain. They organized a group called “Pocket Protectors” and gathered signatures for a petition in opposition of the new project. Their complaints centered on the project’s inconsistencies with the PUD and city land use policies, which many of them had allegedly relied upon to control growth and development in the area. Pocket Protectors also complained about the aesthetic impacts of the project because it provided minimal setbacks from adjacent landowners, only planned nominal landscaping, and created a “canyon” effect due to the lining of the narrow street with closely placed homes of similar sizes. Subsequently, the Planning Commission denied approval citing many of the same complaints of the Pocket Protectors. Continue Reading Pocket Protectors Protest Proposed Project; Prevail