North Bay Business Journal

Most people would agree that if a school, hospital or road project has been subjected to extensive environmental review and met all federal, state and local environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act, the project should go forward without being sued for purported environmental reasons. Unfortunately, [...]

SANTA ROSA — It surprised backers of the planned runway expansion at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport when federal wildlife regulators earlier this year said the presence of an endangered flower in the project area might be assumed though not found specifically there in surveys, potentially needing more conservation measures estimated to boost the job cost by at least $10 million and delay it a year.

SAN RAFAEL — Filmmaker George Lucas has dropped plans to build a 270,000-square-foot digital movie studio northwest of San Rafael and will take the project elsewhere, his real estate company announced this afternoon.

SANTA ROSA — Two Sonoma County health care districts announced this evening they appealed a recent court ruling that sided with Sutter Health over objections to Sutter’s new $284 million hospital, now under construction just north of Santa Rosa.

SANTA ROSA – Sutter Health and the North Sonoma County Healthcare District recently squared off in front of a Sonoma County judge, each presenting its case as to why or why not Sutter’s forthcoming $284 million hospital north of Santa Rosa is in line with the California Environmental Quality Act and the county Health Care Access Agreement.

SANTA ROSA — A Sonoma County judge today heard arguments in a lawsuit filed to stop construction of Sutter Health’s $284 million hospital next to the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts north of Santa Rosa. A ruling is expected within the next few months.

In this interview and his presentation at Construction Conference 2011 on Tuesday, Paul Campos, senior vice president of governmental affairs and general counsel of the Building Industry Association of the Bay Area, will explore emerging area-wide actions by “superregulators” and how contractors can have a say in the outcome of those decisions.

SANTA ROSA – Just two days after Sutter Health broke ground on its new $284 million hospital – a project nine years in the making – the North Sonoma County Healthcare District led a group of opposition in filing suit to block development.

Sonoma County taxpayers should be happy to know they can now witness one taxpayer-funded entity suing another taxpayer-funded entity.

SANTA ROSA, UPDATED 4:20 p.m. – A lawsuit has been filed by opponents of Sutter Health’s planned new hospital next to the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts – less than a week after the Sacramento-based health organization celebrated a ground breaking ceremony for the $284 million project meant to replace the seismically unsafe Chanate Facility.

NORTH BAY — New guidelines by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District on greenhouse gas emissions relating to construction projects have the potential to set forth clearer standards, but concerns have been raised that some provisions could increase the time and cost for the already-complex process of environmental impact reviews.

SONOMA COUNTY — A proposed rock quarry that proponents say could fill a vital need for gravel for local projects has faced numerous environmental hurdles, chief among them the environmental impact review process after the land off Roblar Road was found to be housing an endangered species.

PETALUMA — A group opposed to the East Washington Place regional shopping center project has sued the city of Petaluma, asking for the City Council’s early February project approvals to be set aside and a new round of environmental-impact analysis be conducted because of alleged lapses in following the California Environmental Quality Act.

NAPA COUNTY – Recent efforts to transform a plot of vineyards near Yountville into six residential home slots have put the spotlight on lot line adjustment policies in Napa, and soon local officials will vote whether to tighten the ordinance governing the process, possibly curtailing future attempts to develop in the protected Wine Country valley.

The recent residential mortgage meltdown has without a doubt been one of the most rigorous trials of the legal rights and constraints involved in the foreclosure process. Now with the second coming of the real estate slump expected in the commercial landscape, local attorneys expect a similar law testing ground, though perhaps more uncharted.

NORTH BAY – As government policy evolves on all levels to cut human-caused emissions of what are considered climate-changing gases, state and Bay Area air-quality regulators recently released draft guidelines aimed at helping planning officials and the building industry gauge how much would be considered too much from a given project per environmental-protection laws.