California Planning & Development Report articles from March 1 2009

California Planning & Development Report archives from March 1 2009

State Water Resources Control Board.(inbrief)
March 1, 2009... The state's system for regulating water quality is failing, according to the Little Hoover Commission. In a recent report, the investigative panel concluded the current system managed by the State Water Resources Control Board and nine Regional...

The city of Riverside has sued.(inbrief)
March 1, 2009... The City of Riverside has sued the City of Los Angeles regarding a Port of Los Angeles expansion that Riverside officials say will add to existing inland railroad congestion. The lawsuit contends the Board of Harbor Commissioners did not...

The Public Policy Institute of California.(inbrief)(Report)
March 1, 2009... The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) has released a new report in which it urges less reliance on state general obligation (GO) bonds to found infrastructure improvements. The report, "Paying For Infrastructure: California's...

Beaumont is the second city.(inbrief)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Beaumont is the second city in the San Gorgonio Pass area to lose a California Environmental Quality Act case because of an inadequate water study. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mac Fisher in late February ruled that the EIR for...

Development of Fanita Ranch.(inbrief)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Development of Fanita Ranch in the San Diego suburb of Santee received a minor setback in February, when a San Diego County Superior Court judge gave Santee six months to revise a fire safety plan for the 1,380-home project. However, Judge...

Santa Barbara County supervisors.(inbrief)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... Santa Barbara County supervisors have approved a wind farm on 3,000 acres of agricultural land southwest of Lompoc. Acciona Energy proposes erecting 65 400-foot-tall turbines that will generate more that 1 megawatt of energy apiece. ...

East Bay Regional Park Districk.(inbrief)(Brief article)
March 1, 2009... East Bay Regional Park District and Citizens for East Shore Parks have sued the City of Richmond, a developer and an Indian tribe for allegedly violating a 2006 settlement that allows the Navy to expedite the transfer of land at the former...

Cities try to stir local economy: local governments offer up loans, fee cuts, redevelopment projects.
March 1, 2009... Faced with rapidly declining revenues and extremely difficult budget choices, local governments are starting to invent their own economic stimulus programs. Cities have begun loaning money to car dealerships, cutting development fees, promoting...

In sight: the other state budget breakthrough: environmental review exemptions.
March 1, 2009... It was a little-noticed aspect of the final California budget deal, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made California Environmental Quality Act history when he signed the long-delayed 2008-09 budget in February. Schwarzencgger asked for and...

from www.co-dr.com.
March 1, 2009... Public policy could not be more mixed right now. The state has made reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles a major priority, but the new state budget provides virtually no money at all for transit. New Energy Secretary Steven...

What's the rush? lawsuit questions SLO county project approval.(LOCAL WATCH)
March 1, 2009... When the San Luis Obispo county Board of Supervisors approved the first of what could be several phases of development at Santa Margarita Ranch, located 10 miles northeast of San Luis Obispo, they did so on a 3-2 vote - at a special meeting two...

Greg Devereaux: is city manager for Ontario.(Q&A GREG DEVEREAUX)(Interview)
March 1, 2009... GREG DEVEREAUX is city manager for Ontario, a city of 175,000 people in western San Bernardino County. Prior to coming to Ontario in 1997, Devereaux served as city manager of Fontana, and as director of community development and of housing and....

County's attempt to withhold GIS base map fails: court rules map not protected by terrorism law or copyright.(legal digest)
March 1, 2009... A local government may not use the Homeland Security Act, copyright law or cost concerns to shield its geographic information system (GIS) base map from public disclosure, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled. Although the court...

Mitigation fee program must get environmental review, court decides.(ceqa)
March 1, 2009... A county may not assume that fees paid under a mitigation fee program constitute full environmental mitigation for a project when the program has not undergone California Environmental Quality Act review, the Third District Court of Appeal has...

Developers' creative compensation argument fails to convince court.(eminent domain)
March 1, 2009... An appellate court has declined to allow additional compensation in an eminent domain case to San Francisco landowners who argued that they should be made whole for the expected revenue on an approved but unbuilt mixed-use project on their...

Responsible agency's contract with developer invalidated.(ceqa)
March 1, 2009... A San Diego County water district should have completed an environmental study before approving an agreement to provide recycled water to operators of a proposed landfill, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled. Even though...

Lawsuit over national city eminent domain authority reinstated.(redevelopment)
March 1, 2009... A lawsuit challenging National City's updated blight findings and extended eminent domain authority for about 700 parcels in a redevelopment project area has been reinstated after a trial court judge threw out the suit on procedural grounds....

Challenge of San Bernardino County billboards allowed to proceed.(signs and billboards)
March 1, 2009... A lawsuit challenging San Bernardino County's approval of billboards along desert freeways has been reinstated by the Fourth District Court of Appeal. The court ruled the lawsuit, filed by a county resident, need not comply with the speedy...

Downtown LA.: the rise, fall and plateau.(places)
March 1, 2009... Tom Bradley's dream for downtown Los Angeles was never realized--at least not in the form he originally envisioned. The city's biggest-thinking mayor (1973-1993) of the postwar era, Bradley wanted a great downtown like those in Chicago, Houston...