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The city of Berkeley and an Indigenous group filed an appeal May 28 to block a housing...

From poverty tows to Palestine: The violence of settler colonial evictions across Mama Earth May 24, 2021 Poverty tows are parking violations, which are unethical detriments to houseless folks who rely on the shelter of their vehicles. Between this and the lack of adequate housing options, means of survival are limited. Shelters on Merlin Street, under the I-80 overpass in San Francisco, were cleared – swept away – on May 17, 2021. – Photo: POOR Magazine by Tiny Lisa Gray-Garcia “If they tow my van, I will die. I have nowhere else to go,” reported POOR Magazine’s RoofLESS radio re...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: On April 20, 2021, the First District Court of Appeal filed its first published opinion interpreting California Senate Bill 35’s streamlining provisions in Ruegg & Ellsworth v. City of Berkeley.  The Court held that the City of Berkeley erred in finding a mixed-use development project ineligible for SB 35 streamlining.  Because the project met the essential qualifications under SB 35, the First District commanded the trial court to issue a writ of mandate directing the City to approve the project without further environmental r...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Senate Bill 35 (Government Code section 65913.4) was enacted in 2017 as part of an effort by the State Legislature to increase housing production. The law compels local agencies, including charter cities, to issue streamlined approvals for qualifying multifamily residential projects, even, at times, where a project conflicts with a local ordinance. In Ruegg & Ellsworth v. City of Berkeley, the court rejected Berkeley’s claim that SB 35 impermissibly interfered with the constitutional “home rule” authority over historic preser...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: California's First District Court of Appeal recently issued a lengthy and consequential decision reaffirming the State's ability to pass housing legislation limiting local governments' discretion to deny housing projects. In Ruegg & Ellsworth v. City of Berkeley (Case No. A159218, April 20, 2021), the court was specifically tasked with interpreting and applying – for the first time – SB 35 (codified at Gov. Code. § 65913.4). However, Ruegg & Ellsworth will likely have implications for developers seeking to benefit from other ...