Updates and Articles
SMW Defends Sign Ordinance
The Ninth Circuit rejects a billboard developer's challenge to Alameda County's sign ordinance and upholds a rare award of attorneys' fees to a prevailing defendant on the grounds that the lawsuit was frivolous. (Citizens for Free Speech, LLC v. County of Alameda, 953 F.3d 655 (9th Cir. 2020).)
Read MoreIs local control of affordable housing development dead? The answer is unclear.
Photo Credit: Wally Gobetz, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 In the early 1980s, the Legislature enacted the Housing Element Law (Gov. Code § 65580 et seq.) and the Housing Accountability Act (“HAA”, Gov. Code § 65589.5), citing the lack of housing as a paramount state concern. Since then, the Legislature has passed multiple laws limiting the discretion of local agencies to disapprove or condition housing projects, most of them...
Read MoreNavigating the Challenges Posed by SB 35
Since its passage in 2017, Senate Bill 35 (SB 35)—a state law requiring local jurisdictions to streamline approval of certain affordable housing projects—has been controversial, to say the least. Over the last few years, SB 35 has been the subject of much litigation, as discussed in Benjamin Gonzalez’s and Andrew Schwartz’s article, “Is local control of affordable housing development dead?” in this issue. But because none...
Read MoreDown Payment Assistance Programs: Building a Bridge to Home Ownership
Costly down payments are a major barrier to home ownership for many Americans. Medium and even some low-income workers and their families may earn enough to afford monthly mortgage payments, but often struggle to save enough for a down payment. According to a recent Urban Institute report, high housing costs fall hardest on Black families, who are less likely to own homes than white families with comparable income and...
Read MoreAppellate Court Invalidates Ordinance Streamlining Oil Drilling in Kern County
The firm prevails in the court of appeal in a CEQA challenge to a Kern County ordinance, adopted in 2015, that would have streamlined the permitting of 72,000 new oil wells throughout the County including near low-income communities. The court directs that the approval of the ordinance be rescinded. (King and Gardiner Farms, LLC. v. Kern County, 45 Cal.App.5th 814 (2020).)
Read MoreSMW Part of Team that Helps Cupertino Take Advantage of Near Historic Lows for Municipal Bond Rates
SMW worked closely with Cupertino staff, bond counsel, municipal advisor, and underwriters to issue about $22 million of Certificates of Participation, refunding previously issued certificates and taking advantage of near historical lows for municipal bond rates. The transaction resulted in average annual savings to Cupertino of nearly $500,000.
Read MoreSMW Aids in the Acquisition of Land Planned for New Park
SMW attorneys supported the City of Cupertino in its acquisition of more than 7 acres of land planned for a park. Cupertino’s purchase of the property is a critical step in a more than 10-year effort to provide additional parks and recreation areas on the east side of the City.
Read MoreAgencies Bear Costs of Redacting Electronic Records, But Questions Remain in Recent PRA Decision
Photo Credit: Tobias Kleinlercher, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons The California Supreme Court recently issued a ruling on the seemingly mundane issue of whether public agencies may charge Public Records Act (PRA) requesters for the costs of redacting exempt material from electronic records when responding to PRA requests. Although the decision clarifies that agencies must bear the cost of redacting exempt material...
Read MoreShifting Coastlines: Managed Retreat Strategies for Cities Addressing Coastal Erosion
As climate change and sea-level rise accelerate erosion, cities and counties along the California coast must act to protect coastal resources and property from the landward march of the sea. To buffer these interests against the effects of coastal erosion, local agencies have adopted a wide variety of management strategies. Where landowners are reluctant to abandon economic investments and resources on the coast, planners...
Read MoreSMW Solidarity Statement
Black people have built America since before it was a country, often driven to the task by systematic oppression and racism. Recently, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, Oscar Grant, Mario Woods, Kayla Moore, and countless others suffered deadly violence, with all of us as witnesses. The brazenness and impunity of these acts—the inevitable result of systemic racism in the country that Black people...
Read MoreSMW Assists with $271 Million Green Bond Issuance to Support Transit Center Construction
In 2020, the firm assisted the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) in its first bond issuance. The public agency sold $271 million in Green Bonds/Climate Bonds, certified based on the environmentally sustainable elements of the multi-modal Transbay Program. Proceeds from the bonds sale were used to refinance a federal loan and generate new money for the design and construction of the transit center and the extension of...
Read MoreNew Organic Waste Processing and Food Waste Recovery Rules Moving Forward
On April 20th CalRecycle released what it expects to be the final regulations implementing SB 1383, California’s groundbreaking law to reduce disposal of organic waste at landfills by 75 percent from 2014 levels by 2025. The law is an important part of the State’s strategy to reduce methane and greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of focusing on emissions at landfills, SB 1383 directed CalRecycle to develop regulations...
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