SACRAMENTO — Environmentalists often tout infill development – building homes and shopping centers within urban “brown fields” rather than in undeveloped “green fields” – as a way to combat global warming, which they say is exacerbated by urban sprawl. In fact, “infill” is the green-friendly response to developers who say that new housing is required to meet the needs of California’s growing population.
The state’s signature environmental law, the 1970-era California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), has long been an impediment to suburban development. We see that in a California Supreme Court decision from early December that rejected the 6,000-page environmental report for the Newhall Ranch project north of Los Angeles. CEQA will delay – or possibly stop – this massive master-planned community that was designed to house 58,000 people.
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