What we are reading today:
- Should the Courts Help Los Angeles Commit Fiscal Suicide? - Gideon Kanner's takedown of the recent California Court of Appeal decision in City of Los Angeles v. Superior Court, No. B225082 (Apr. 12, 2011), which held that in order to make out a claim for inequitable precondemnation activities, the city must actually have filed (or be contemplating filing) an eminent domain action. Because it hadn't, the property owner could not get summary judgment on the Klopping claim. But as one colleague noted, if the city was not buying up these properties around LAX for a public purpose, just what was it doing? Also worth reading is Brad Kuhn's summary and analysis of the case here.
- Too many drug stores? Oh, the humanity! - from the Berkeleyside blog comes the question "Will pharmacy wars lead to new restrictions in Berkeley?" Here's the city's position: "It’s happening all over the place,' said [Julie] Sinai [the Mayor's chief of staff]. 'A Walgreens is moving into the Elephant Pharmacy (right near CVS on Shattuck Avenue) You have Walgreens and CVS right downtown a few blocks from one another. We feel there needs to be encouragement of diversity. This proliferation of drug stores in beyond the pale.'"
- A&B long the target of takeovers - a recent story from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about local conglomerate Alexander & Baldwin. Read it if you are interested in how the last of the "Big 5" companies is doing, or for the money quote:
A&B lists the average cost for its Hawaii land at $150 per acre, or a relatively minuscule $13 million for nearly 88,000 acres. The company regards most of its Hawaii real estate as having relatively low present value because it is incredibly difficult and time-consuming to convert farmland to higher-value uses such as residential or commercial development under state and county land-use regulations.How "challenging" is the land use process in Hawaii? How about a 90% win rate for environmental parties in the Hawaii Supreme Court, and procedures that were recently described as "labyrinthine" and a "backbreaking gauntlet."The company says it has the best keys to unlock the long-term value of its land while also producing significant annual profit from its interrelated operations.
"Hawaii’s multi-tiered entitlement process can be challenging, at times taking years to move a project from application to approval,” A&B said in the report. “Our ability to navigate this process is one of the company’s core competencies."
- Mobilehome Park Rent Control - the Battle Continues - from the Meyers Nave firm, about the Guggenheim cert petition.
- Judicial Takings or Due Process? - summarizing a recent law review article about the Stop the Beach Renourishment case.