News & Analysis as of

State and Local Government Urban Planning & Development Appeals

Hinckley Allen

Massachusetts Appeals Court Curbs Zoning Board Discretion in Special Permit Denial

Hinckley Allen on

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

Perkins Coie

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

Perkins Coie on

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

Alston & Bird on

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...

Downey Brand LLP on

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

Whiteford on

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

Meyers Nave

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

Meyers Nave on

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...

Miller Starr Regalia on

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

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

DarrowEverett LLP on

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

Alston & Bird

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

Alston & Bird on

Los Angeles County - Executive Order Streamlines Path to Rebuild Homes, Businesses, and Communities Destroyed by Los Angeles Firestorms - In response to the multiple firestorms in Los Angeles County that started on January 7,...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

The 60-Day Appeal Clock is Ticking for Challenges to Oregon Wildfire Hazard Map Assignments

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Oregon property owners who are receiving notices from the state that their property is in a zone with high wildfire risk and in a designated wildland-urban interface have until March 7, 2025 to submit appeals. ...more

Snell & Wilmer

Arizona Supreme Court to Address the Scope of Citizens’ Rights to Propose Local Ballot Measures

Snell & Wilmer on

In the forthcoming case of Roundtree v. City of Page,2 the Arizona Supreme Court will weigh in on a reoccurring political issue that bubbles up in cities and towns across the state: under what circumstances does a proposed...more

Goulston & Storrs PC

Appeals Court Shines Light on Solar Panel Protections

Goulston & Storrs PC on

Kearsarge Walpole LLC v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Walpole involved a dispute over where a large-scale solar array could be placed in Walpole, Massachusetts. In Kearsarge, a solar developer (Kearsarge), along with Norfolk...more

Lowndes

Recent Court Decisions Highlight Zoning Enforcement Challenges

Lowndes on

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

Carlton Fields

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

Carlton Fields on

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

Sullivan & Worcester on

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

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

Perkins Coie

City of Davis Did Not Err in Finding Mixed-Use Project Consistent With General Plan

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The court of appeal held that the City’s determination that a mixed-use development project was consistent with applicable general plans policies and standards was supported by substantial evidence. Old East Davis...more

Perkins Coie

EIR Recirculation Not Required Where Final Version of Approved Project Was Not Specifically Evaluated in EIR

Perkins Coie on

The Second District Court of Appeal held that: (1) despite revisions to a mixed-use development project, the project description in the EIR was “accurate, stable, and finite;” (2) an opportunity for public comment on the...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

Perkins Coie

State Density Bonus Law Does Not Require Applicants to Demonstrate Economic Feasibility of Project When Requesting Incentives

Perkins Coie on

A Court of Appeal held that the state’s density bonus law (Gov’t Code § 65915) does not require applicants to submit financial information to support requests for incentives or waivers and preempted a city ordinance that...more

Bowditch & Dewey

Massachusetts’ New Economic Relief Bill – What Enabling Partnerships for Growth Means for Local Zoning

Bowditch & Dewey on

On January 14, 2021, Governor Baker signed the Act Enabling Partnerships for Growth (the “Act”). Although Governor Baker vetoed specific parts of the Act, it includes a number of provisions that affect local zoning....more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

CEQA News You Can Use - Vol. 5, Issue 4 - December 2020

Welcome to CEQA News You Can Use, a quarterly production of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP’s Natural Resources lawyers. This publication provides quick, useful bites of CEQA news, which we hope can be a resource to your...more

Perkins Coie

Violation of Zoning Ordinance Limiting Medical Marijuana Cultivation Did Not Justify Seizure of Dispensary’s Medical Marijuana

Perkins Coie on

The Sixth District Court of Appeal held that a medical marijuana dispensary could recover its marijuana plants seized by law enforcement, finding that violation of the ordinance did not render medical marijuana plants...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

California Supreme Courts Holds Categorical Classification of Well Permits As Exclusively “Ministerial” Does Not Hold Water

After a nearly two-year wait, in Protecting Our Water and Environmental Resources v. County of Stanislaus (2020) __ Cal.5th ____ (POWER), the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected the County of Stanislaus’s (County)...more

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