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In California the Housing Crisis Yields to Luxury Spas

by Sean M. Sherlock A recent court of appeal opinion out of San Diego demonstrates how the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) has once again been used to impede housing development—this time to the benefit of a high-end luxury spa. For CEQA practitioners the case provides two important lessons. First, it demonstrates how a permitting […]

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California Supreme Court Invalidates EIR for Coastal Mixed-Use Development

by Richard J. McNeil The California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Banning Ranch Conservancy v. City of Newport Beach, ___ Cal. 4th ___ (2017) (Case No. S227473, Mar. 30, 2017) serves as a cautionary reminder that–as stated by the Court (citing Laurel Heights Improvement Association v. Regents of University of California, 47 Cal. 3d 376, […]

RM
Former Partner

My Project Changed—Is My EIR Still Valid: A New California Supreme Court Case Provides Guidance

by Mark D. Johnson Change is inevitable.  Many times between project approval and project construction fluctuations in market conditions, financing terms or other factors mandate project changes.  Do the changes require a further or modified California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) analysis?  A new California Supreme Court case, Friends of the College of San Mateo Gardens […]

MJ
Former Partner

Does a Project’s Impact on the “Character of the Community” Need to Be Evaluated under CEQA?

by Sean M. Sherlock Harry Rogers owned and operated a horse boarding facility called the Stock Farm, in the City of Poway, California – a city that proudly calls itself the “City in the Country.”  Rogers wanted to shut down the Stock Farm and subdivide his land into residential lots.  Not surprisingly, some of the […]

| 4 min read | Tagged:

How to avoid CEQA environmental review by ballot initiative

by Sean M. Sherlock The World Logistics Center is a massive project – 41 million square feet of logistics facilities located on 2,300 acres in Moreno Valley, California. The project has undergone environmental review for years, culminating in an Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) that was approved by the Moreno Valley City Council on August 19, […]

It’s the Effect of the Project on the Environment – Not the Effect of the Environment on the Project

by Sean Sherlock The California Supreme Court has resolved a longstanding uncertainty regarding the scope of environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). In 1995, a California Court of Appeal held that CEQA requires a lead agency to evaluate the effect of a project on the environment, but not the effect of the […]

New CEQA Cases Approve of Flexibility in Determining Environmental Baseline

by Sean M. Sherlock The California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) requires agencies to evaluate whether projects they are performing or permitting will have a significant effect on the environment. But significant compared to what? In evaluating a project’s impact on the environment, an agency must determine appropriate baseline conditions against which to compare the project. […]

Project Built at Variance With EIR Subject to Late CEQA Lawsuit

By:  Sean M. Sherlock Ordinarily the threat of a lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) passes once the statute of limitation expires – in most cases 30 days after the filing of a Notice of Determination.  But a recent Court of Appeal decision illustrates how a project may remain subject to CEQA litigation […]

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CEQA Lawsuit to Enforce Climate Change Mitigation Measure Prevails

  By:  Katherine A. McKitterick and Sean M. Sherlock On October 29, 2014 the California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s judgment enforcing a mitigation measure adopted by a county in its program environmental impact report (PEIR).  As of the date of this blog post, this case is unpublished.  Therefore, this case does not […]

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Legislature Expands CEQA to Require Tribal Consultation

By Sean M. Sherlock and Brian Daluiso On September 25, 2014, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., signed Assembly Bill No. 52 (“AB 52”) into law. The new law expands the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) to provide that any public or private “project with an effect that may cause a substantial adverse change in the […]

| 5 min read | Tagged: , , ,
BD
Former Associate