In January 2006, the Town of Hempstead passed an ordinance prohibiting check cashing establishments in any zone but those reserved for industrial and light manufacturing, and requiring that check cashing establishments currently operating in other zones relocate their operations within five years. The Town based its decision on a memorandum written four weeks prior to [...]
Motokazie! Inc. sought to construct a $2.6 million, 131-acre motorsports facility in Rice County, Minnesota. The planned park would hold races and events involving “snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), motorcycles, go karts and other smaller motorized vehicles.” Because some of the uses proposed for the facility—specifically snowmobile and go kart racing—were not permitted under County zoning [...]
William Rines appealed from an order of the New Hampshire Superior Court enjoining him from excavating on real property until he obtained a local use variance from the Town of Carroll. The Supreme Court of New Hampshire reversed and remanded. The Town sought to enjoin Rines, who owns two lots in Carroll and controls two [...]
The City of Los Angeles refused to accept an application for the conversion of a 170-unit mobile home park from tenant occupancy to resident ownership because the owner failed to include an application for a coastal development permit from the Coastal Commission or for a subdivision map approval. The owner asserted that the California Government [...]
The City of Temecula initiated this action claiming the land use of the defendant, Cooperative Patients Services, was in violation of the local code, constituting a public nuisance. The City moved for, and the trial court granted, a preliminary injunction barring the defendant from operating a medical marijuana dispensary. The defendant appealed and the Court [...]
In 2009, the Attorney General of Pennsylvania (hereinafter “AG”) initiated this action asserting Locust Township’s regulations of intensive animal agriculture are invalid as preempted by state law. Previously the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, found the AG failed to state a ripe cause of action, as the local law had yet to be applied or enforced. [...]
In 2004, the Wisconsin legislature passed Statute section 93.90 (Siting Law), which regulates livestock facility siting and expansion. The law establishes various procedures for livestock farm operators to apply for, and receive, permits from political subdivisions. The following year the town adopted the law as part of its zoning ordinance. Larson Acres, Inc. applied for [...]
In September 2008, with amendments in 2009, the Queen Anne’s County Commissioners passed a surface mining ordinance dealing with “major extraction operations.” Briefly, the ordinance prohibited major extraction operations from occupying more than 20 acres of land, except through 20-acre approved expansions; stipulated that a major extraction operation could not exceed five years in duration, [...]
The Holistic Collective (THC) provides medical marijuana to patients in Palm Springs, CA. The property is located within Palm Spring’s C-1 zoning district where medical marijuana dispensaries (MMD) are not a permissible use. Palm Spring’s Ordinance 1758 provided a process for legal operation of MMD’s in permissible zones. The ordinance provided for a 90 day [...]
On December 7, 2010, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors banned medical marijuana dispensaries in all zones in unincorporated areas of the County. Los Angeles County Code (LACC) section 22.56.196B provided that “medical marijuana dispensaries which distribute, transmit, give, or otherwise provide marijuana to any person, are prohibited in all zones in the County.” [...]
The Town of Islip, NY requested an opinion of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) about whether the town board could create a secondary, yet limited, planning board to oversee applications for site plans for a rather large upcoming planned development district project pursuant to Town Law 261-c. The reason for the request was [...]
The City of Peekskill, NY requested an opinion of the Attorney General regarding the prevailing governing law, the City charter (charter) or the General City Law (GCL), with respect to the terms of office of appointed members of the City’s zoning board of appeals (ZBA), and also the date which their terms commence. The OAG [...]
Petitioner is a Medical Marijuana Dispensary (MMD) in the City of Wildomar. Petitioner leased a building and applied for a business license to open and operate a MMD. Petitioner opened the MMD and, soon after, temporarily closed it due to several city code violations which were documented by the code enforcement officer. The City’s municipal [...]
The Town of Hempstead amended their zoning ordinance to prohibit check-cashing establishments in any districts other than industrial and light manufacturing districts. Preexisting check-cashing establishments located in districts where such establishments where prohibited were required to terminate by amortization no later than five years after the effective date of the new law. Operators of check-cashing [...]
Appellant sand and gravel operators in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland, challenged a county ordinance which sought to regulate major extraction operations, arguing the ordinance was preempted by state surface mining laws and was a violation of substantive due process. The circuit court had upheld the ordinance and the operators appealed. The Maryland Department of the [...]
