A California appellate court upheld a lower court decision denying an environmental group's petition challenging a local board's approval of a development project in Monterey County. The group argued that by approving the project with a mitigated negative declaration (MND) in lieu of an environmenta...
The court upheld the dismissal of an environmental group's lawsuit against a state agency and its officials seeking to enjoin the agency from conducting dredging operations in a canal until it complies with an earlier order by the state environmental appeals board remanding a dredging permit for a p...
A court upheld a town's right to regulate development through zoning that prevents development in flood plains. Landowners filed suit against the town after their property was rezoned from a light industrial zone to a flood-prone conservancy zone. A state land court ruled that the town's action was ...
A California appellate court held that the doctrine of equitable estoppel does not bar the California Coastal Commission from ordering homeowners to remove a private three-hole golf course from around their house and to restore the area to its native sand dune vegetation. The property was burdened b...
A California court upheld the dismissal of a petition under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) challenging a city's approval of a redevelopment project involving both the rehabilitation of a historic theater and the construction of an adjacent multi-screen cineplex and parking structure...
New York's highest court ordered the modification of a lower court decision reversing a local agency's denial of a landowner's request for a variance to build an underground sewage treatment system within the New York City watershed. The agency denied the variance application because the landowner f...
A California appellate court held that a county board's certification of an environmental impact report (EIR) and approval of a conditional use permit (CUP) regarding a proposed expansion of a mining operation violated the California Environmental Quality Act. The EIR was inadequate in several respe...
A California appellate court held that a city violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in approving new commercial development on vacant land. One of the CEQA's two major purposes is to require public agencies to adopt feasible mitigation measures to lessen the environmental impacts ...
A California appellate court upheld the invalidation of a municipal services agreement between a Native American tribe and a city concerning the tribe's plan to build a gaming facility on land it has the option to purchase. The tribe applied to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to take the land in ...
The Eleventh Circuit held that a district court should have remanded to state court individuals' strict liability claims against a development company for groundwater and surface water contamination. The individuals initially filed their claims in Florida court, but the defendants removed the case t...