In Ruegg & Ellsworth v. City of Berkeley (2021) 63 Cal.App.5th 277 the First District Court of Appeal decided the first published case addressing Senate Bill 35 (SB 35). The 2017 law allows qualifying projects with an affordable housing component...
In Citizens for a Responsible Caltrans Decision v. Department of Transportation (March 24, 2020) 2020 Cal. App. LEXIS 243, the Fourth District Court of Appeal found that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) improperly relied on a CEQA exemption in...
Sacramentans for Fair Planning v. City of Sacramento (2019) 37 Cal.App.5th 698, 704. The Yamanee project, a 10-story mixed-use condominium development in Midtown Sacramento, (Project) exceeded both the density and height limits of its parcel’s zone. A Sacramento General Plan provision...
Berkeley Hills Watershed Coalition v. City of Berkeley (2019) 31 Cal.App.5th 880, 885 The City of Berkeley approved development of three single-family homes on adjacent parcels. The landowner submitted applications for use permits, including two geotechnical and geological hazard reports. These...
Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, Inc. v. City of San Diego (2019) 7 Cal. 5th 1171 In 2014, the City of San Diego adopted an ordinance amending its zoning code to allow for medical marijuana dispensaries. The ordinance capped the number...
In Bottini v. City of San Diego (2018) 27 Cal.App.5th 281, the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that the City of San Diego (City) violated CEQA where it refused to rely on a categorical exemption and instead required that an...
In California Water Impact Network v. County of San Luis Obispo (2018) 25 Cal. App. 5th 666, the Second District Court of Appeal held that the approval of groundwater well permits was a ministerial act and not subject to CEQA environmental...
In World Business Academy v. California State Lands Commission (2018) 24 Cal.App.5th 476, the Second Appellate District determined that renewing a lease for an existing power plant constituted a categorically exempt “existing structure” project under CEQA and the record did...
In Don't Cell Our Parks v. City of San Diego (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 338, the Fourth District Court of Appeal found that the San Diego City Charter (Charter 55) did not prohibit the City of San Diego (City) from approving a...
In Covina Residents for Responsible Development v. City of Covina, (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 712, the Second District Court of Appeal held that parking impacts caused by a project are exempt from CEQA review, per Public Resources Code section 21099. Additionally,...
In Protect Telegraph Hill v. City and County of San Francisco (2017) 16 Cal.App.5th 261, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court and upheld the City and County of San Francisco’s (“City”) approval of the construction of...
In Aptos Residents Association v. County of Santa Cruz (2018) 20 Cal.App.5th 1039, the Sixth District Court of Appeal found a Class 3 categorical exemption for “small structures” applied to multiple small projects considered as a group. The Court held...