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Nossaman LLP

California Court of Appeal Confirms Legislatively Enacted Development Impact Fee

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In 2024, in what was heralded as a big win for developers in California, the U.S. Supreme Court upended decades of California precedent and held that legislatively enacted development impact fees must satisfy the “essential...more

Hinckley Allen

Massachusetts Appeals Court Curbs Zoning Board Discretion in Special Permit Denial

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The various approvals, permits, orders of conditions, and the like that may be required to proceed with work on a given project can seem daunting at times.  And when a project’s proposed use is not automatically authorized...more

Nossaman LLP

Legislatively Enacted Fees Have Another Day in Court

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On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, the California Court of Appeal heard argument in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado. You may recall that the California Court of Appeal previously held that legislatively enacted development impact fees...more

McGuireWoods LLP

Virginia Court of Appeals Overturns Arlington Missing Middle Decision

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On June 24, 2025, the Virginia Court of Appeals overturned the Circuit Court of Arlington County’s decision invalidating Arlington County’s Expanded Housing Option (EHO) ordinance, commonly known as the “Missing Middle”...more

Perkins Coie

VMT Thresholds Must Be Based on Substantial Evidence Specific to Local Conditions

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The County of San Diego’s thresholds for exempting certain projects from vehicle miles traveled (VMT) analysis were not supported by substantial evidence showing they were appropriate specifically for the County. Cleveland...more

Alston & Bird

Land Use Matters | May 2025 | CEQA Appellate Decisions & Other Legal Developments

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City of Los Angeles - Expedited and Streamlined Review Process for Community Rebuilding - On March 18, 2025, Mayor Karen Bass issued Revised Emergency Executive Order No. 1 (EO 1) directing the Department of City Planning,...more

Downey Brand LLP

Are Your CEQA Thresholds Supported by Substantial Evidence? Fourth District Rules San Diego County’s Thresholds of Significance...

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In Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. County of San Diego (2025) 109 Cal. App.5th 1257, the Fourth District Court of Appeal invalidated two thresholds of significance adopted by the County of San Diego (“County”) that in...more

Whiteford

Client Alert: Updates on Developments in “Missing Middle” Housing Policies - UPDATED 4/30/25

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Recent legal and policy developments continue to shape the landscape for “Missing Middle” housing initiatives, impacting developers, municipalities, and communities alike. Arlington County's Expanded Housing Option (EHO)...more

Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Drawing the Line Somewhere

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What Happens When a Parcel is Split Zoned?- Municipal zoning maps frequently include the entirety of a lot or a tax parcel within a given zoning district. But, sometimes zoning maps do not do this. Sometimes, zoning maps...more

Meyers Nave

Court of Appeal Invalidates County's Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Screening Thresholds for CEQA Review

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A California court of appeal has held that a lead agency conducting environmental review, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), of “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT) impacts may not unquestioningly use thresholds...more

Miller Starr Regalia

Fourth District Invalidates San Diego County’s “Infill” And “Small Project” VMT Screening Thresholds As Lacking Substantial...

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In a published opinion filed March 27, 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Div. 1) reversed the trial court’s judgment denying a writ petition, and held that two screening thresholds of significance for vehicle miles...more

BCLP

Planning and Infrastructure Bill - NSIP Changes

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The infrastructure measures in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill introduce amendments, principally to the Planning Act 2008, that aim to make the NSIP regime faster and more flexible to support the Government’s major...more

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Oregon Wildfire Hazard and Wildland-Urban Interface Map Appeals Due March 10, 2025 ‎

For Oregon property owners, the Oregon Department of Forestry officially adopted new wildfire hazard and wildland-urban interface maps on January 7, 2025. To check a property’s designations and view the maps, go to Oregon...more

DarrowEverett LLP

Legal Guidance Can Be Key in Navigating Rhode Island Land Use Matters

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Land use matters in Rhode Island are often challenging to interpreappt and navigate. In fact, the Ocean State is known for having among the most restrictive policies for zoning and land use control in the U.S. It’s not hard...more

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

Summary of Select 2024 California Real Estate and Land Use Cases Impacting Real Estate Developers

On January 21, 2025, Coblentz litigation partner Skye Langs presented for the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Real Property section on the following real estate and land use cases from 2024...more

Lowndes

Recent Court Decisions Highlight Zoning Enforcement Challenges

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The Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, sitting in its appellate capacity, recently found in two similar cases that Miami-Dade County violated property owners’ due process rights by citing them for code violations using...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Court Upholds City's Reliance on CEQA Exemption, Reaffirms Canons of Statutory Interpretation

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In April 2021, a developer applied to the City of King City, California (City), for a proposed 18,000-square-foot Grocery Outlet store (Project). The Project site was a former 1.6-acre car sales lot adjacent to Highway 101...more

Carlton Fields

Zoning Appeals: Have We Been Doing This Wrong for 30 Years?

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Since the end of 1993, Florida land use and zoning lawyers have been taught the basics: a rezoning hearing is quasi-judicial in nature and appeals of the decision go to circuit court on certiorari review. Why is this? Because...more

Sullivan & Worcester

Zoning and Development Newsletter - January 2024

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Welcome to the Third Issue of Sullivan’s Zoning and Development Newsletter- This newsletter is a collaboration between members of our Permitting & Land Use Practice Group and the Litigation Department, in order to provide...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Uncertainty Looms: Minneapolis's 2040 Plan Hits (Another) Judicial Roadblock

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The month of September was a bad month for the City of Minneapolis’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan (2040 Comp Plan). On September 5, 2023, Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District (Hennepin County) released a decision temporarily...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Court Holds Proposed Ballot Measure Excluding Community Plan Area from Height Limit Is Not a “Later Activity” For...

In late June, California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a Superior Court decision in Save Our Access v. City of San Diego, providing clarity for determining when a “later activity” is beyond the scope of an existing...more

Sullivan & Worcester

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Issues a Win for Sullivan Client in State Tax Dispute

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Justices Strike Down Tax Assessed on Capital Gain from Sale of Exempt Urban Redevelopment Project, a Win for Massachusetts Urban Redevelopment and Affordable Housing - On Friday, March 10, 2023, the Supreme Judicial Court...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Court Affirms Housing Applicants' Ability to Be Vested Against Downzonings

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O'Brien Land Company's more than a decade-long odyssey to build 315 zoning-compliant homes – chronicled in Conor Dougherty's book Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America – has become the stuff of housing law legend,...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Court of Appeal Holds No-Project Alternative Analysis May Mean More When Conversation is an Option and Reinforces Low Barrier to...

In Save the Hill Group v. City of Livermore et al., the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 5) reversed and remanded the superior court’s decision to uphold the reissued final environmental impact report (RFEIR) for a...more

Miller Starr Regalia

First District Holds EIR’s Analysis of “No Project” Alternative To City of Livermore Residential Development Violated CEQA By...

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In a published decision filed March 30, 2022, the First District Court of Appeal (Division 5) reversed a trial court judgment upholding the reissued final environmental impact report (“RFEIR”) for a 44-single family residence...more

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