Local Government

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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

In Alameda Books et al. v. City of Los Angeles (9th Cir. Jan. 28, 2011, No. No. 09-55367 __ F.3d ____ [2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 1769] the Ninth Circuit reversed the grant of summary judgment to plaintiffs claiming an ordinance requiring the dispersal of adult entertainment businesses violated the First Amendment. The Ninth Circuit found that the biased declarations upon which the summary judgment was based did not amount to actual and convincing evidence sufficient to cast doubt on the rationale of the City of Los Angeles in creating the ordinance.
Continue Reading Government Rationale Given Benefit of the Doubt in First Amendment Challenge to Zoning Ordinance

Lawsuit challenging a county’s ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries was not brought within the 90 day statute of limitations. Plaintiff’s attempts to cast the lawsuit as an as-applied challenge to bring it within the statute of limitations were unsuccessful. A wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf, no matter how you dress it up.
Continue Reading A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is Still a Wolf: Court Denies Medical Marijuana Case on Statute of Limitations Grounds

When it comes to development agreements, local agencies are treated like any other private contracting party, including the payment of damages if the agency breaches the agreement. The Town of Mammoth Lakes learned this lesson the hard way when a jury awarded $30 Million to a developer for the town’s failure to process a development application in good faith pursuant to the development agreement.
Continue Reading Town Forced to Pay $30 Million for Breach of a Development Agreement

By Kathrine J. Hart

In Azusa Land Partners v. Department of Industrial Relations, (Dec. 21, 2010, No. B218275) ____ Cal.App.4th ____, the Second Appellate District Court of Appeals upheld determinations by the Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”) and trial court that (1) a master planned community project is a “public work” subject to prevailing wage laws applicable to public improvement work performed by private contractors where such work was a condition of project approval, (2) Mello-Roos proceeds are “public funds,” and (3) once a project is deemed a “public work” under Prevailing Wage Law, the entire project is subject to the law – including those improvements which are privately financed. This case is significant because it turns the historical interpretation of “public work” under the Prevailing Wage Law on its head; typically the analysis to ascertain whether each public improvement is a public work is based on whether any portion of the required public improvement work received a direct allocation of public funds. If this decision stands, developers will be subject to prevailing wages on all projects which include public improvements financed only partially by public funds.Continue Reading Court Says Developers Must Pay Prevailing Wages on Privately-Financed Public Improvements

Abbott & Kindermann’s Annual Land Use, Real Estate, and Environmental Law Update

Reserve your seat for one of three seminars taking place in 2011.

In January and February 2011 Abbott & Kindermann, LLP will present its annual complimentary educational program for clients and colleagues interested in current land use, environmental, and real estate issues affecting commercial and residential development, real estate acquisition, easements, leasing and property acquisition, and mining.
Continue Reading REMINDER! Save the Date!

In the much anticipated opinion of Building Industry Association of Central California v. County of Stanislaus, et al.(November 29, 2010, F058826), by the California Court of Appeal, Fifth District, the Court reversed the trial court’s ruling to invalidate the Farmland Mitigation Program (“FMP”) adopted as an update to the County of Stanislaus’ (“County”) agricultural element of the County’s general plan.
Continue Reading Appellate Court Upholds 1:1 Agricultural Lands Mitigation