Statute
CEQA
1,311 published works
Land Use Law Blog
Negative Declarations: Fair Argument, Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
by William W. Abbott Most readers of this newsletter are already aware that the evidentiary threshold necessary to push a ND into an EIR is relatively low. In a June…
Land Use Law Blog
Anderson First: Evaluation of Blight and Effective Mitigation
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…
Land Use Law Blog
Paying the Piper in Land Use Litigation
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…
Land Use Law Blog
Pocket Protectors Protest Proposed Project; Prevail
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…
Land Use Law Blog
Design Review and CEQA Analysis: New Guidance
by William W. Abbott One person's innovative, edgy infill development is another person's significant impact. Or is it? This is the issue recently addressed in Bowman v. City of Berkeley…
Land Use Law Blog
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, and Wal-Mart is from Pluto
by William W. Abbott A new court decision affirms the adequacy of an EIR prepare in response to an application by Pluto Development, Inc, the development arm of Wal-Mart. Pluto…
Land Use Law Blog
Court of Appeal Affirms Dismissal of CEQA Challenge Alleging Inadequate Alternatives, Inadequate Consideration of View Impacts to Neighbors and Insufficient Evaluation of Mitigation to Coastal Sage Scrub
by William W. Abbott Despite what project critics may say, lead agencies do get it right every now and then. The recent decision of Mira Mar Mobile Community v. City…
Land Use Law Blog
California Courts Reaffirm the Broad Discretion Held by Cities and Counties in Enacting Land Use Regulations and Setting Policy
by William W. Abbott and Heather Gerken Land use applicants frequently fail to appreciate the deference that a reviewing court must give a city council or board of supervisors. Disgruntled…
Land Use Law Blog
CEQA’s Thresholds of Significance v. Thresholds of Pain: Sometimes It’s Hard to Tell the Difference
by William W. Abbott Readers of this firm's publications likely remember the efforts of the Wilson administration to create an impetus in the 1998 CEQA Guidelines amendments for the use…
Land Use Law Blog
Making (and Breaking) the Record
by William W. Abbott and Robert T. Yamachika In a previous article, we noted that a disorganized administrative record could be fatal to project approval if the land use decision…