Pleasanton Voters Decide, What's in a Ridgeline?
Many long, hard-fought battles have been waged for the control of high ground, and the one surrounding Pleasanton’s Measure D is no exception. Measure D asks whether a 51-home development known as Oak...
View ArticleIs Santa Clara Ready for Some Football?
The San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League are trying to punt themselves out of creaky Candlestick Park and into a shiny new home in Santa Clara. Whether political winds will carry them...
View ArticleCities Consider How to Plan for Legalized Marijuana
To this day, the State of Kentucky forbids the sale of alcohol on election days. This momentary dry spell – which hearkens back to frontier times – is meant to encourage sober voting and discourage...
View ArticleCal Supremes Uphold Semi-Secret Ballot in Prop 218 Vote
A unanimous California Supreme Court has upheld a trial court’s decision to reject a challenge to a Proposition 218 election for a storm drainage fee, thus reversing a decision by First District Court...
View ArticleProp 23, Whitman Cannot Slow Down Progressive Planning Laws
The entire California planning world now seems to revolve around combating climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But Proposition 23 – a long-term suspension of the state’s...
View ArticlePost-Election Update: State, Local Ballots Abound with Land Use Measures
Collectively, ballots that California voters will cast Nov. 2 encompass a representative sample of the usual land use questions that California cities and counties face on a regular basis. Local voters...
View ArticleElection Wrap-Up: Voters Statewide Opt for Compact Development
Local voters in the Nov. 2 California election were not necessarily “pro-growth” or “anti-growth” but rather seem to have embraced smart growth like never before. They expressed subtle but clear...
View ArticleCash-Strapped Planning Agencies Get Prop. 84 Windfall
When Proposition 84 passed in 2006, it reflected a booming economy. Providing $5.4 billion for clean water, parks, and open space the measure was seen as an important way to protect the state’s natural...
View ArticleMarch 8 Elections Include Few Local Land Use Measures
Voters will face only a handful of local ballots March 8, and the slate is mercifully light--and concentrated in Southern California. After a November election (see CP&DR Vol. 25, No. 21 Nov. 2010)...
View ArticleRedevelopment Supporters Gird for Legal Battle
If Gov. Jerry Brown gets his way in the Legislature in the coming days, he and the state will face a conundrum to make a Zen master's head spin: Is it illegal to transfer funds from agencies that no...
View ArticleJudge Rejects Initiative to Banish Ventura Parking Meters
CP&DR Staff A ballot initiative to remove parking meters from downtown Ventura has been knocked off the November ballot by a Ventura County Superior Court judge. read more
View ArticleInsight: 100 Years After Introduction of Voter Initiatives, ‘Ballot-Box...
Bill Fulton This month – October 10, to be exact – marks the 100th anniversary of initiative and referendum in California. It’s hard to imagine that Gov. Hiram Johnson, the godfather of the...
View ArticleJune Ballots Include Few Questions on Local Land Use (Updated)
CP&DR Staff While the presidential Primary Election will be a non-event in California,this upcoming Election Day, June 5, will be a relatively quiet one for land use measures in California as...
View ArticleStrategic Plan, Grant Programs Drive SGC's Agenda
Josh Stephens With funding scarce and plans large and small in abundance, the latest round of Sustainable Communities Grants and Urban Greening Grants awarded by the Strategic Growth Council come as...
View ArticleNovember 2012 Land Use Ballot Measures
CP&DR Staff It’s safe to say that the City of Calistoga’s Silver Rose Referendum will not be the most important question on the ballot in the this November. Nor will Escondido’s general plan...
View ArticleFourth District rules special 'electorate' not OK for San Diego's special...
Martha Bridegam California's Fourth Appellate District on Friday struck down a special hotel tax that San Diego hotel operators had willingly imposed on themselves, as members of an unusually defined...
View ArticleCP&DR News Briefs, May 18, 2015: L.A. Mobility Plan; Delta Smelt Face...
Matthew Hose The Los Angeles Planning Commission advised the City Council to adopt the city's proposed Mobility Plan 2035 (pdf), update the land use element of 35 community plans, and adopt an...
View ArticleElection Results: Turning Point on San Francisco Density?
CP&DR Staff Was Tuesday's election the turning point in the San Francisco density battles? There's been a lot of talk lately about how the city's longtime policy of controlling new development may...
View ArticleBallot Initiative Takes Aim at Planning in Los Angeles
Josh Stephens On the morning of Wednesday, November 9, while the nation takes stock of its future, its second-largest city will be doing the same. By then, the proposed Hollywood Palladium Residences...
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