Land Use
Overview
Our team continually raises the bar for land use in California, doing exemplary work on the state’s most innovative, forward-looking land use projects. We meld our extensive experience in regulatory and administrative procedures with our strong litigation practice to provide our clients with the skills necessary to address all project aspects. In addition, two of our attorneys are authors and managing editors of California Land Use Practice, a seminal reference book for land use attorneys and urban planners.
We help our clients navigate through a myriad of complex land use laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA); planning, zoning and subdivision laws; and natural resource protection laws (Clean Water Act, Coastal Act, etc.). The breadth and depth of our experience translates to exceptional results and value for our clients.
Subpractices
People
- John D. Bakker
- Julia Bond
- Timothy D. Cremin
- Kathleen Faubion
- Deborah J. Fox
- Edward Grutzmacher
- John Harris
- Peter S. Hayes
- Jessica Hirsch
- Erin Burg Hupp
- Lala Kahramanian
- Amrit S. Kulkarni
- Adam U. Lindgren
- Steven T. Mattas
- Dawn McIntosh
- Maribel S. Medina
- Steven R. Meyers
- Michael J. Minkler
- Gregory J. Newmark
- Frank R. Petrilli
- Margaret Rosequist
- Bianca Sparks
- Leslie A. Thomsen
- David S. Warner
Publications
- Noted Land Use Specialist David Warner Joins Meyers Nave’s Santa Rosa Office
- Court Holds That CEQA Does Not Require Analysis Of The Environment’s Impacts On A Proposed Project
- Daily Journal Recognizes Four Meyers Nave Principals as “Top 25 Municipal Lawyers” in California for 2011
- Anti-NIMBY Findings Apply to All Residential Development Projects, Not Just Affordable Housing
- Cities and Counties May Ban Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
- Significant CEQA Streamlining Reform Bills Enacted
- Ninth Circuit Finds Anti-Solicitation Ordinance Aimed at Day Laborers Violates First Amendment
- City Approval Of Preliminary Terms for New Football Stadium Was Not A Project Approval And Did Not Violate CEQA
- Daily Journal Recognizes Meyers Nave Principal Amrit Kulkarni as 'Top 25 Land Use Lawyers'
- Appellate Court Finds that Inclusionary Housing Requirement is Not an Exaction, Therefore Challenge is Time-Barred
- Ninth Circuit Expounds on Burden Shifting Framework Established by the Supreme Court in City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books
- Opinion in Zubarau v. City of Palmdale
- Daily Journal Recognizes Meyers Nave Principal Amrit Kulkarni as “Top 20 Under 40” Lawyers in California
- Court Invalidates EIR’s Use of Post-Approval “Future” Baseline For Analysis of Project Impacts
- Ninth Circuit En Banc Panel Finds Goleta’s Mobile Home Rent Control Ordinance
- A Solid Administrative Record is the Key to Successfully Defending a Challenge to an EIR
- Appellate Court Finds Unconstitutional Statutes Favoring Speech Related To Labor Disputes And Holds That A Private Property Owner May Ban Picketing On Its Property
- Nine Meyers Nave Attorneys Recognized as 'Super Lawyers' and 'Rising Stars'
- City of Chino Files Motion to Intervene with State’s Expedited Progress
- No Subsequent CEQA Review Required By Agency Which Lacks Authority To Mitigate Environmental Impacts
- City's Billboard Bans Do Not Violate Free Speech Rights
- EIR Set Aside for Inadequate Alternatives Analysis and Failure to Prepare Water Supply Assessment
- CA Court of Appeal Issues First Decision on CEQA and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- EIR Not Required to Evaluate Off-Site Alternative Which Does Not Meet Project Objectives
- Filing a Notice of Exemption Triggers a 35-day Statute of Limitations for CEQA-Based Challenge to the Project Approval
- Court Holds that Inclusion of a "Supercenter" in a Project Does Not Automatically Mean Urban Decay Impacts Must Be Studied
- Ninth Circuit Orders Rehearing En Banc, Vacating Controversial Regulatory Takings Decision in Guggenheim v. City of Goleta
- Judge Rambles Musingly, Hands Victory to Meyers Nave Land Use Lawyer
- California Supreme Court rejects use of maximum permitted operational levels as CEQA baseline for environmental review of refinery project
- Meyers Nave Obtains Major CEQA Victory for the Port of Los Angeles
- Agreement for City Services to Proposed Tribal Casino is Not a Project under CEQA
- Even Where No Environmental Review Was Undertaken, 30-Day Statute of Limitations for CEQA Challenge Applies Whenever NOD is Filed
- Mitigation Measures May Survive Expired Approval
- 8,000 Adult Items in One Store Found "Substantial" by 2nd Circuit
- EIR Required For Ordinance Banning Retail Distribution of Plastic Bags
- To Avoid Mandatory Dismissal, CEQA Petitioner Must File and Serve Written Request For Hearing Within 90 Days Of Filing Petition
- Supreme Court Rules CEQA Does Not Apply When Agency Declines to Renew Use Permit for Private Applicant
- First Appellate District Rules CEQA's One-Year Rule for Certifying an EIR not Mandatory
- Inclusionary Housing Ordinances that Apply to Rental Projects that Do Not Receive Public Agency Financial Assistance or that Do Not Include Density Bonus Units or Incentives May Need to Be Revised
- Should Local Agencies Consider Proposed High Speed Rail in CEQA Analyses of Local Projects?
- U.S. District Court Holds that Owners and Operators of Municipal Sewer Systems May Be Liable Under CERCLA for Contamination Caused by Third Parties
- Deborah Fox named Who's Who in Law by the Los Angeles Business Journal
- Two Recent Cases Provide Guidance on Agency Examination of Alternatives, Other Issues, in CEQA Documents
- Ninth Circuit Departs from Established Jurisprudence for Regulatory Takings Claims
- Court of Appeal Holds Developer Cannot Sue City for Violations of CEQA and Constitutional Law Where City Rejects Project Before Completing EIR
- Legislature Responds to Economic Downturn by Extending the Lives of Tentative Subdivision Maps for Two Years
- Seven Meyers Nave Attorneys Recognized as "Super Lawyers"
- Recent Trend in Green Buildings Laws: Potential Preemption of Green Building and Whether Retrofitting Existing Buildings Will Reduce Greenhouse Gases and Save the Economy
- Multidisciplinary Meyers Nave Team Contributes to Landmark Redevelopment Project
- Latest OPR CEQA Guidelines Emphasize Local Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plans in CEQA Review
- Meyers Nave Now Offers Mediation Services
- Agencies Must Either First Complete CEQA Review or Retain Discretion to Modify or Cancel Contracts Subject to CEQA Until Environmental Review Is Complete
- Wireless Telecommunications Facilities Regulation - Ninth Circuit Narrows the Preemption Standard of Section 253(a) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Reversing Its Prior Decisions in Sprint Telephony and Auburn
- Meyers Nave Achieves Rare Recovery of Attorneys' Fees for City of Palmdale
- Court Rules Coastal Commission Has the Power to Unilaterally Designate Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas Prior to Certification of LCP and the Power to Regulate Inland Visual Impacts Within Costal Zone Even Up to Four and a Half Miles
- Non-Religious Commercial Activities Not Protected as "Religious Exercise" Under RLUIPA
- U.S. Supreme Court Restricts Endangered Species Act, Section 7, Consultation Requirements to "Discretionary" Actions of Federal Agencies
- California Supreme Court Clarifies Constitutionality of Zoning Impacts on Economic Competition
- Meyers Nave Principal Deborah Fox Honored with 2007 Top Women Litigators Award
- Meyers Nave Opens San Francisco Office
- Meyers Nave Successfully Defends Land Use Regulation Challenge
- Opinion in Redwood Christian Schools v. County of Alameda
- California Supreme Court Requires More Extensive Environmental Review to Adequately Analyze Long-Term Water Supply for Long-Range Development Project
- California Supreme Court Agrees with Meyers Nave Amicus Brief; Holds Newly Incorporated City Not Estopped from Disapproving Final Subdivision Map
- Court of Appeal Holds that Subdivision Map Act Limits Time that Vesting Tentative Maps Can Be Extended Due to Development Moratoria, and that Filing of an Admittedly Nonconforming Phased Final Map Does Not Extend the Life of the Tentative Map
- U.S. Supreme Court Muddies Waters on Wetland Jurisdiction Standards
- Meyers Nave Announces Addition of John Harris to Los Angeles Office
- Meyers Nave Announces Newly Expanded Los Angeles Office
- Meyers Nave Negotiates the First Agreement Under California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act of 2004
- Amicus Brief: City of Goleta v. Oly Chadmar Sandpiper General Partnership
- Ninth Circuit Opinion in Gammoh, et al v. City of La Habra
- Amicus Brief in Lim v. City of Long Beach
- Opinion in Tily B. v. City of Newport Beach
- Opinion in Santa Fe Springs Realty Corp. v. City of Westminster
- Opinion in 3570 East Foothill Boulevard v. City of Pasadena
- Opinion in Eldorado Drive v. City of Mesquite
- Ninth Circuit Establishes Test For Whether Zoning Ordinances Treat Religious Land Uses On Less Than “Equal Terms”
- California Supreme Court Clarifies Corporate Standing Requirements for CEQA Lawsuits in Upholding Environmental Review of Plastic Bag Ban
- New CEQA Case Limits Disclosure Of Information About Vulnerable Cultural Resources And Clarifies Water Supply Availability Analyses
- 180-day Statute of Limitations Applies Unless CEQA Notice of Determination is Posted for 30 Full Days
- Court Rejects CEQA Challenge to GHG and Water Analysis in Addendum to 1994 EIR