This post is authored by Andrew LW Peters originally appeared on the Rocky Mountain Sign Law Blog and is reposted with permission.
The Federal District Court for the District of North Dakota denied a request for a preliminary injunction that would have forced the City of Fargo to allow a “premier adult toy retailer” to open a downtown location.
The case arose out of a zoning dispute between plaintiff “Romantix” and Fargo’s planning department. Romantix is considered itself just another eligible retailer to locate downtown. City officials disagreed, saying that Romantix’s business of selling sexual devices instead made it an…
This post was originally published on the RLUIPA Defense blog by Evan Seeman, Esq. of Robinson & Cole, and is reposted with permission.
A district court has ruled that the City of Meriden, Connecticut (the City) discriminated against Omar Islamic Center Inc. following the City’s denial of the Islamic Center’s application to move its mosque to another location. The Islamic Center (the Center) outgrew its prior location – a 1,200 square foot space above a pizza restaurant in a neighboring city – and was unable to accommodate the members of the assembly, the number of students interested in its Quran…
This post was authored by Amy Lavine, Esq.
The petitioner had requested variances from several different zoning requirements, including the regulations for lot area, lot frontage, front yard setbacks, rear yard setbacks, and minimum and total side yard setbacks, which it needed so that it could build a single faming home. The board of zoning appeals (BZA) denied its request for area variances, however, and the Second Department confirmed the BZA’s denial on appeal. As the court explained, there was sufficient evidence to support the BZA’s determination that there would be an undesirable impact on the character of the neighborhood…
“The entire game revolves around these two men dancing around each other. The courtroom battles are like a tango, a back-and-forth exchange.”
That’s how Claire Stenger, senior narrative designer at Gameloft, describes the relationship between Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth. But anyone that’s played Capcom’s Ace Attorney games probably already knew that.
The relationship between the upbeat defense attorney and the aloof prosecutor has become one of the most popular character “ships” in video game fandom. (Shipping has been around since the ’60s heyday of Kirk and Spock, and usually refers to fans’ use of artwork, fanfiction, or memes to…
UCLA Extension’s annual Land Use Law and Planning Conference is the leading networking event and source of information on California land use legislation, case law, and the emerging issues that frame land use and development practices in the nation’s most popular state.
The program’s unique cross-disciplinary approach explores the full range of perspectives drawn from land use planning, legal, development, and environmental communities, and demonstrates how these factors influence the day-to-day work of planners, developers, environmental regulators, and attorneys .
Now in its 37th year, the UCLA Extension conference offers a big-picture view of land use law and planning practice,…
It’s Time for a Carbon Tax
Andrew ZhangMost Americans are worried about global warming.[1] Unfortunately, our actions do not reflect that worry. In 2019, 6,558 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (the total global warming potential of all greenhouse gases adjusted to the potential of carbon dioxide) were emitted into the atmosphere from the United States, representing a two percent increase from 1990.[2] As a result, emissions have begun to exceed the capacity of natural processes that absorb carbon dioxide.[3] Largely due to human activity, the climate has warmed by 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880.[4]
A carbon tax is…
This post was authored by Tyler Doan, Esq.
Petitioner owns property on one side of a road. Respondent owns roughly 6.8 acres across the road from Petitioner that contains a two-story 97 room hotel. Both properties are located within a Highway Commercial zoning district which exists “to encourage a full range of commercial activity along major highways.” The two properties are surrounded by other commercial properties.
In 2015 Respondent applied to the ZBA for an area variance to construct two new hotels on its property. In a determination dated January 28, 2016, the ZBA granted the variances. In a CPLR…
This post was authored by Tyler Doan, Esq.
Petitioner owns real property on a short dead end roadway in the City of Ithaca abutting Summit Avenue. An adjacent property, that Summit Ave is on, has been owned by various entities during the relevant period. In 2017, after the then owner of the subject property blocked a portion of Summit Ave on the property in preparation for constructing an apartment complex there, the Petitioner commenced and an action contending, among other things, that it had a right of unobstructed access to Summit Ave because the roadway was either a public street…
