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As part of the California Judicial Council’s April 6th response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Judicial Council adopted Emergency Rule 9 which tolled statutes of limitations for civil causes of action from April 6th until 90 days after the Governor declares an end to the state of emergency. While most civil claims must be brought within a period of years, land use practitioners were quick to point out that this Emergency Rule effectively added an additional three times the statute…

On May 8, 2020, the Third Appellate District certified for publication its decision in Petrovich Development Company, LLC et al. v. City of Sacramento et al. (opinion can be found here). The Petrovich court held the developer did not receive a fair hearing because “concrete facts” established that a City Councilmember was biased and took affirmative steps to assist project opponents and organize the opposition at the hearing.  Text messages and email correspondence provided the majority of the evidence. Although…

While uncertainty remains regarding the CEQA statute of limitations under the Judicial Council’s April 6th Emergency Order (available here), the Governor issued Executive Order N-54-20 (EO N-54-20) on April 23 to provide some clarity on noticing procedures under CEQA (available here) while physical distancing protocols are in effect. EO N-54-20 suspends certain public filing and notice requirements under CEQA for 60 days. Any materials that would normally be required to be publicly posted, filed with a county clerk, or made available to…

In a 6-3 decision penned by Justice Breyer, the United States Supreme Court held on April 23 that discharges of pollutants to groundwater that reach surface water may require a Section 402 permit under the Clean Water Act. The decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (No. 18-260) resolved a split of the circuit courts and established  a new “functional equivalent” test to determine when a permit is required. However, the Court explicitly left defining “functional equivalent” to…

We are very excited to announce that Carlyn Drivdahl and Peter Landreth have joined our firm as Counsel and that Rob Taboada has been elevated to Partner. Carlyn practices in the areas of land use, public contracting, and public ethics, with an emphasis on land use entitlements. After working at Best Best & Krieger, Carlyn spent twelve years as a Deputy County Counsel for the County of Tuolumne. Carlyn’s in-house county counsel experience gives Carlyn a deep understanding of the…