Some time back, I wrote about the City of Palo Alto’s struggles in addressing the amount of commercial development it should allow, in grappling with the ongoing disparity between employment growth and housing in Silicon Valley. Since then, city government has continued to wrestle with this problem, adopting a variety of tactics in its efforts to bridge this gap, including … [Read more...] about Palo Alto reverses course on commercial development cap
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Are we seeing a rash of ADA issues in Silicon Valley?
Enacted in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) is a landmark paradigm of U.S. civil rights legislation, modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in order to bar discrimination against and ensure opportunities for people with disabilities. While the goals of this law are unquestionably laudable, however, its implementation in practice has produced mixed results. … [Read more...] about Are we seeing a rash of ADA issues in Silicon Valley?
Will the California Supreme Court take action to curb abusive CEQA environmental review practices?
I have written about the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) and its workings on a number of occasions in my blog. To be sure, requiring California government agencies to take into account the protection of the environment in their decision-making processes is a demonstrable benefit to society generally. As of late, however, the salutary purpose of this law has been … [Read more...] about Will the California Supreme Court take action to curb abusive CEQA environmental review practices?
Federal government tightens and expands high-priced residential real estate reporting obligations in money laundering battle
I’ve previously reported in this blog on efforts by the federal government to combat money laundering by imposing certain reporting and record-keeping requirements for high-value residential real estate transactions in specific locations around the country. Recently, the agency responsible for this program modified these standards for the purpose of casting a wider net for … [Read more...] about Federal government tightens and expands high-priced residential real estate reporting obligations in money laundering battle
Post year-end update on several new California laws affecting real estate
Those of you who are followers of my blog know that I post Items from time to time about current California legislation relating to real property issues. While the last several months witnessed several impactful high-profile legislative proposals and enacted statutes that garnered a great deal of attention, the most recent session of the California legislature that ended last … [Read more...] about Post year-end update on several new California laws affecting real estate