The California First District Court of Appeal recently ruled in Berkeley People’s Alliance v. City of Berkeley (2025) 114 Cal.App.5th 984, that the City of Berkeley may have violated the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) when it moved several City Council meetings to smaller rooms in response to public disruptions.

On October 11, 2025, the Governor signed an additional bill, SB 158, that made further changes to CEQA, including cleaning up parts of the provisions added by AB 130 and SB 131, and appropriating $2,106,000 from the General Fund to the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to support implementation of SB 131.

On June 30, 2025, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 130, one of the “budget trailer bills” implementing the State’s 2025-26 budget, into law.

On July 10, 2025, the City of West Sacramento’s (City) Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District No. 1 (EIFD) became the first enhanced infrastructure financing district in California to issue bonds upon its successful issuance of $57,225,000 of Tax Increment Bonds, Series 2025.

Effective January 1, 2025, Government Code section 66323 (Section 66323) was updated to forbid local agencies from imposing any objective development or design standards unless explicitly authorized in Section 66323, leaving public agencies at a loss for what authority they truly have in the process of reviewing, accepting, and denying applications for accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

In a recent decision, the California Supreme Court sided with the City of Oakland (City) in an important property dispute, which clarified when lots created prior to March 4, 1972, can be recognized as separate parcels under the Subdivision Map Act (Act).

On September 20, 2024, the Governor signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 937, amending a section of the Mitigation Fee Act. The changes to Government Code section 66007 went into effect January 1, 2025.