In 1963, the California legislature became concerned that private landowners were “bar[ring] public access to their land for recreational uses out of fear of incurring tort liability.”
California’s continuing shortfall of new housing to meet demand has led to the enactment of a number of measures at the state level to encourage housing development and to limit the grounds for local governments to disapprove or excessively condition particular projects.
The use of private covenants governing the use, improvement, and occupancy of real property has a long and sometimes checkered history in California, as it does throughout the nation.
On September 16, 2021, Governor Newsom signed two bills that take effect on January 1, 2022, and are intended to foster more intensive residential development in existing single-family zoned areas.
The latest United States Supreme Court decision in the contested ground of Fifth Amendment takings law, Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, is yet another chapter in the long-standing argument regarding the distinction between “regulation” of the use of private property by its owner, and “physical invasion” or “appropriation” of property by the government.
The pace of construction of new housing in California consistently falls far short of demand.