Oct 31, 2025 | Housing, Legislation, Litigation
By Emily Hoeven, Opinion Columnist
October 31, 2025
California continues to stay in the news for its swath of lawsuits against President Donald Trump. Attorney General Rob Bonta teed up his 45th suit against the administration this week — this time over SNAP benefits.
Yet one of the juiciest lawsuits of the year involving California has nothing to do with the president — it was filed against the state on Oct. 24. And it has mostly flown under the radar.
Aug 2, 2025 | Housing, Litigation
by CalMatters
August 2, 2025
New residential projects need to set aside a share of the units they plan to build for lower-income renters and homeowners under the terms of the city’s “inclusionary zoning” ordinance. Builders who refuse have to instead pay a fee, ranging from the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
An East Palo Alto homeowner filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday challenging the constitutionality of that law, likening it to “extortion” — and he had a little help from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Apr 20, 2025 | Housing, Environment, Litigation
By Kate Talerico
April 20, 2025
For years, this lot just south of the West Oakland BART station has sat vacant. This was supposed to be housing — a 222-unit tower with 16 apartments set aside for low-income renters. But soon after Oakland’s planning commission signed off on the project, the decision was appealed. A coalition of trade unions, using the California Environmental Quality Act, demanded that the developer conduct more studies to assess the soil’s contamination levels — a process that could hold up construction for months.
Apr 11, 2025 | Litigation, Housing
By STEPHANIE LAM
April 11, 2025
Pro-housing group YIMBY Law has filed two lawsuits against Cupertino this week, claiming the city violated state laws by denying multiple housing proposals that would have added dozens of new homes.
The organization alleges that two preliminary proposals submitted under the builder’s remedy provision — Vista Heights and Schofield Drive — faced numerous roadblocks in their application process.
Apr 3, 2025 | Housing, Litigation
By NOLLYANNE DELACRUZ
April 3, 2025
Los Gatos is asking for a judge to weigh in on a conflicting interpretation regarding builder’s remedy applications.
The town filed a lawsuit last week at the Santa Clara County Superior Court for clarification regarding the application process for builder’s remedy housing projects. Builder’s remedy is a controversial provision that allows developers to build a project of whatever height and size wherever they would like in cities that don’t have a state-certified housing element.
Nov 10, 2024 | Housing, Litigation
By Susan Kirsch
November 10, 2024
The headline of the editorial read, “Novato is stuck with bad rules from the state.” Some will nod in sympathy. They think about being “stuck” as burdened, baffled or in a fixed position and unable to move.
Others don’t feel sympathy, but anger. Rightly so. Elected officials have pandered to Sacramento lawmakers and succumbed to threats from legislators and staff. In many cases, they’ve abandoned the well-being of constituents.
