A trial court had jurisdiction to find that a denial of a permit application violated the Housing Accountability Act (HAA) on remand, even though the Court of Appeal did not expressly instruct the trial court to address the HAA issue. Ruegg & Ellsworth v. City of Berkeley, No. 2487258 (1st Dist., March 14, 2023).
City Properly Approved Project Under Land-Use Standards Existing at Time of Original Application
Under the Housing Accountability Act, a proposed residential development should be evaluated under the land-use standards that applied when the original application was deemed complete, not those at the time of the final decision on the project. Save Lafayette v. City of Lafayette, 85 Cal.App.5th 842 (2022).
In 2011, a developer applied for approval of
Single Home Not Subject to the Housing Accountability Act
The court of appeal held that the Housing Accountability Act (HAA) does not apply to a one-unit single-family home project. Reznitskiy v. County of Marin, 79 Cal.App.5th 1016 (2022).
Plaintiff applied to the Marin County Planning Commission to build a 4,000-square-foot single-family home on a plot of land in San Anselmo. The Commission denied the
Court Upholds Key Provisions of Housing Accountability Act
In a major decision, the California Court of Appeal rejected a city’s interpretation of what constitutes an “objective” standard under the Housing Accountability Act and upheld the constitutionality of the law and amendments that strengthened it. The decision represents the second time this year that the Court of Appeal has both rejected a charter city’s
Governor Signs Housing Legislation, Including Streamlining Bill
Governor Brown has signed 15 bills designed to address the State’s severe shortage of affordable housing. Among its other effects, the legislation will (1) generate funds for affordable housing developments; (2) require cities and counties, as they approve new development, to maintain a supply of adequate housing sites for all levels of income; (3) tighten