When a new shopping center may leave existing retail areas short of business, a California court has ruled that mitigations of "urban decay" must be spelled out up front.
If an edge-of-town shopping center will cause "urban decay" in the form of lost downtown business, the EIR needs to spell out enforceable mitigation measures up front. That's one of several holdings in California Clean Energy Committee v. City of Woodland, a painstaking, meaty opinion by California's Third District Court of Appeal. The opinion was first issued in February with "unpublished" status. Some very smart lawyers who represent community groups recently persuaded the court to give the weight of precedent to the decision's core holdings.
FULL STORY: EIR overturned for slim 'urban decay' mitigation
Tollways for Sacramento?
Road pricing terminology can be confusing, particularly since Californians see so little of it. For example, a Sacramento TV station calls proposed express lanes on Interstate 80 from Solano County to Sacramento a ‘tollway.’
California Impact Fees Reach Supreme Court
An upcoming ruling could have a major impact on building and development in California and around the country.
Opinion: How California’s Environmental Law Empowers NIMBYs
Critics of a new provision calling “social noise” an environmental impact say the law can too easily be co-opted by anti-housing groups to block new development.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.
Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.
Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.
LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
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