California Land Use Blog

by Alex DeGood

June 1, 1946. World War II had been over for nine months, neither Mitt Romney nor Barack Obama was born, and the City of Los Angeles completed the last comprehensive update of its zoning code. In the intervening 66 years, the code has grown from a manageable 84 pages to over 600 nearly impenetrable pages. Over the decades, the City responded to every new issue or situation not covered or contemplated by the 1946 code with layer upon layer of new zones, entitlements, overlays, or property-specific development limitations. The result is a code that satisfies no one, from developers to neighborhood groups, and confuses almost everyone.

In the face of a code that has become unmanageable, the City's Planning Department recently requested funding to embark upon a five year overhaul of the code.

By Matthew Hinks

A trial court's order granting the motion of the City of Lake Forest for a preliminary injunction against the operations of a medical marijuana dispensary has gone -- well -- "up in smoke". Orange County Superior Court Judge Chafee had ruled that the city's zoning ordinances, which did not recognize dispensaries as a permitted use and expressly prohibited unpermitted uses, established a complete ban against medical marijuana dispensaries justifying preliminary injunctive relief. The Court of Appeal in City of Lake Forest v. Evergreen Holisitc Collective, 203 Cal. App. 4th 1413 (2012), disagreed and reversed that decision.