Updates and Articles
Solar Eclipse Brings Call to Action From State Energy Officials
Everyone is gearing up for the eclipse next Monday, August 21, 2017. We all know that the Pacific Northwest will experience a total solar eclipse and that we’ll have a partial eclipse here in California. Less well known is the fact that we stand to temporarily lose 5,600 megawatts of solar electricity when the moon obscures the sun. A coalition of state agencies is urging residents, businesses, and public agencies to add...
Read MoreState Updates Requirement to Reduce Waste from Construction and Demolition Projects
On January 1, 2017, the 2016 California Building Standards Code went into effect, including an updated edition of the California Green Building Standards Code, otherwise known as CALGreen. One of the most notable changes in the 2016 edition of CALGreen is a new statewide requirement that at least 65 percent of waste from new construction and demolition (“C&D”) projects be recycled and/or salvaged for reuse. Before...
Read MoreDespite Recent Uptick in Developer-Sponsored Initiatives, Voters Remain Wary
Photo credit: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons In Tuolumne Jobs & Small Business Alliance v. Superior Court (2014) 59 Cal.4th 1029, the California Supreme Court held that CEQA does not apply to voter-sponsored initiatives, even where the initiative is adopted by local officials rather than the voters. Since that decision, California cities and counties have seen a sharp increase in development projects...
Read MoreDefending Local Control of Land Use
By Andrew Schwartz Odds are that President Trump’s Executive Order calling for “review” of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and designation of national monuments are just the start of his administration’s efforts to eviscerate federal regulations that protect the environment. The potential dismantling of federal environmental protections presents an opportunity for states and local governments to back-fill holes in...
Read MoreCalifornia Supreme Court Sheds Light on How Public Agencies Should Manage E-Communications Consistent with the California Public Records Act
On Thursday, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in City of San Jose v. Superior Court, holding that writings that concern public business may be subject to the California Public Records Act (CPRA) even if they are sent and received using private accounts. Recommended Best Practices The Court highlighted how public agencies, employees, elected representatives, and other officials can manage their...
Read MoreState Lawmakers Limit Local Control of Accessory Dwelling Units
Citing California’s housing shortage, state lawmakers recently took aim at local jurisdictions’ review of accessory dwelling units. These units—also known as second units, in-law apartments, or granny flats—can be a valuable form of housing for family members, students, the elderly, care providers and others, sometimes at below market prices within existing neighborhoods. But local jurisdictions note that the development...
Read MoreConservation Easements as Mitigation Measures: Tips for Public Agencies
With the continuing loss of open space and farmland to development, more and more agencies seek to mitigate these losses by requiring developers to preserve equivalent land on- or off-site. Conservation easements offer a flexible tool for achieving open space protection, and the courts have upheld easement requirements as legally adequate mitigation for farmland and open space conversions. Unlike other land preservation...
Read MoreFacebook Settlement Promotes Affordable Housing
The firm represents the City of East Palo Alto in negotiating a settlement with Facebook in 2016 that results in a $20 million fund for affordable housing and requirements for job training for City residents.
Read MoreNavigating Complex Attorney Fees
A litigant in a partition action faces a potential obligation to pay fees and costs of over $600,000. The firm eliminates this liability and turns it into a cost award of about $5,000. The litigation involves years of billing records and contentious proceedings. (DeMartini v. DeMartini (2016).)
Read MoreSMW Protects General Plans and Referendum Power in California Supreme Court
The firm prevails in a landmark case before the California Supreme Court that upholds the people's right of referendum and confirms the primacy of the city's General Plan. (Orange Citizens for Parks & Recreation v. Superior Court, 2 Cal.5th 141 (2016).)
Read MoreSMW Thwarts Developer Attempt to Circumvent General Plan Policies for Historic Town Center
On behalf of Save Our Historic Town Center, the firm successfully challenges a massive development in the heart of downtown San Juan Capistrano that is flatly inconsistent with the City's general plan policies for that historic area. (Save Our Historic Town Center v. City of San Juan Capistrano (2016).)
Read MoreDon’t Forget the Energy Implications of New Projects – CEQA Guidelines Appendix F
Photo credit: Kevin Dooley, Flickr, CC BY 2.0 Agencies have long relied on existing energy-reduction requirements in building codes, and on the beneficial side effects of reducing greenhouse gases, to demonstrate that a project’s energy use will not be wasteful or inefficient. That approach is no longer sufficient under CEQA, however, without an express assessment of the “before” and “after” energy requirements of...
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