2025 saw a number of Growth Management Act (GMA) and housing related bills in Washington, which are particularly relevant as planning counties and cities are in the middle of preparing their comprehensive plan updates and as...more
City of Los Angeles - Increase to Planning Applications and Affordable Housing Linkage Fees - On July 1, 2024, the fee for planning and land use applications increased by 3.5% based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban...more
Fauquier County and Fairfax County are tightening zoning regulations for data center developments. In March, the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors approved zoning changes for the Vint Hill area's Planned Commercial...more
We would not blame you if you said that dealing with attorneys is not your favorite part of being a municipal official. However, in our defense, people use attorneys because they need help with complicated legal processes and...more
2023 served up roughly the same number of published appellate CEQA cases as 2022 with a defense win percentage of over 80 percent, which has been the case in many, if not all, of the past ten years. A prominent theme of...more
Picture this scenario: You have a residential development project that had conceptual approval from the local Planning Board two years ago. Under the local laws that existed when you applied for your approval, you were...more
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ wide-ranging land use bill targeting housing affordability was introduced on March 22, 2023, as SB 23-213, sponsored by Sen. Dominick Moreno (D-Adams) and Reps. Iman Jodeh (D-Arapahoe) and Steven...more
Responding to calls from Philadelphia’s housing advocates to generate tax revenue for affordable housing, Philadelphia City Council adopted a trio of ordinances on December 2, affecting most new construction projects...more
Whilst the three previous articles in our series on planning reform have considered the main changes in the Planning White Paper, there are many more recent far-reaching proposals, both in the Planning White Paper and...more
L.A. aims to increase affordable housing with proposed zoning changes - Daily Breeze – August 6 - The Los Angeles Department of City Planning last Thursday released plans for an incentive-based zoning system for...more
For the first time in over 50 years, the City of Portland is rewriting its Land Use Code, which is found in Chapter 14 of the City’s Code of Ordinances. The effort involves several substantive policy changes aimed at making...more
Montgomery County, Maryland - Montgomery County has launched Thrive Montgomery 2050, an initiative to update the County’s General Plan for the first time since the 1960s. The County Planning Board seeks public input to...more