Public Restrictions on Private Land

Unit 4 Multiple-Choice Quiz
1 Patrick wants to oper­ate a new use on a par­cel in the Cal­i­for­nia city where he owns prop­erty. The city plan­ning department’s staff report for his project con­cludes that there will be no envi­ron­men­tal impacts and no one appears at the city hear­ing to oppose his project. His project will prob­a­bly require a(n): hint A neg­a­tive dec­la­ra­tion required by CEQA ana­lyzes a project’s antic­i­pated envi­ron­men­tal impacts and explains why the project, as pro­posed or with changes, will not have the poten­tial to cause sig­nif­i­cant impacts to the envi­ron­ment. Points: 0

cat­e­gor­i­cal exemp­tion.
envi­ron­men­tal impact report.
envi­ron­men­tal impact state­ment.
neg­a­tive dec­la­ra­tion.
2 In which court case did the prop­erty owner suc­cess­fully chal­lenge the restric­tive con­di­tions on devel­op­ment imposed by the pub­lic agency? hint The home­own­ers in Nol­lan v. Cal­i­for­nia Coastal Com­mis­sion won their case in the U.S. Supreme Court. Points: 1

Eas­ton v. Strass­burger
Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.
Nol­lan v. Cal­i­for­nia Coastal Com­mis­sion
Zellers v. State of Cal­i­for­nia
3 Which of the fol­low­ing is true about a change in zon­ing that makes a use non­con­form­ing? hint Non­con­form­ing uses that existed prior to the adop­tion of the cur­rent zon­ing that were law­ful when estab­lished and are not nui­sances are nor­mally allowed to con­tinue indef­i­nitely, but can­not be expanded. Points: 1

Such a zon­ing change would be ille­gal.
Cal­i­for­nia courts will always award the owner mon­e­tary com­pen­sa­tion.
The owner will be allowed to con­tinue the use if it is not a nui­sance.
The owner of the prop­erty has an absolute right to expand the use.
4 Which is not one of the four pow­ers of gov­ern­ment that affects pri­vate own­er­ship of real estate? hint All pri­vate own­er­ship of real estate is sub­ject to the legit­i­mate pow­ers of gov­ern­ment, which includes emi­nent domain, tax­a­tion, escheat, and police power. Replevin is a legal rem­edy for a per­son to recover goods unlaw­fully with­held from his or her pos­ses­sion. Points: 1

Emi­nent domain
Escheat
Replevin
Tax­a­tion
5 Bill has an auto parts busi­ness on prop­erty zoned com­mer­cial. The city’s zon­ing for com­mer­cial prop­er­ties allows the sale of auto parts as a mat­ter of right, but states that the city has author­ity to approve or deny the repair of auto­mo­biles on the same premises. If Bill wants to start an auto repair busi­ness on the same lot, he must: hint A con­di­tional use is a use that is not allowed as a mat­ter of right, but that might be allowed if the owner gets a spe­cial per­mit, also known as a con­di­tional use per­mit (CUP). Points: 1

have the prop­erty re-zoned.
obtain a vari­ance.
seek a con­di­tional use per­mit.
sue the city, argu­ing that the restric­tion amounts to a “tak­ing.“
6 Which state law requires the prepa­ra­tion of a pub­lic report for all major sub­di­vi­sions? hint The Lands Law requires the prepa­ra­tion of a pub­lic report for all major sub­di­vi­sions. Points: 0

Inter­state Land Sales Full Dis­clo­sure Act
State Hous­ing Law
Sub­di­vided Lands Law
Sub­di­vi­sion Map Act
7 The Com­pre­hen­sive Envi­ron­men­tal Response, Com­pen­sa­tion, and Lia­bil­ity Act is also known as the Super­fund because it: hint It is called Super­fund because it estab­lishes two trust funds to help finance the cleanup of prop­er­ties that are impacted by the release of haz­ardous wastes and sub­stances. Points: 1

con­sists of three trust funds for the cleanup of prop­er­ties.
con­sists of two trust funds used for clean­ing up prop­er­ties.
estab­lishes one large account funded by wealthy phil­an­thropists.
estab­lishes one large account from prop­erty tax col­lec­tions.
8 A fed­eral agency that wants to under­take an activ­ity on federally-owned prop­erty in Cal­i­for­nia: hint NEPA requires that fed­eral agen­cies and other enti­ties under­tak­ing activ­i­ties on fed­eral prop­erty con­duct an envi­ron­men­tal analy­sis of the pro­posed project. Points: 1

can do so imme­di­ately with­out envi­ron­men­tal review, because of the Supremacy Clause of the Con­sti­tu­tion.
must com­ply with the pro­ce­dures under the National Envi­ron­men­tal Pol­icy Act.
must com­ply with the pro­ce­dures under the Cal­i­for­nia Envi­ron­men­tal Qual­ity Act.
is exempt from com­ply­ing with the pro­ce­dures under the National Envi­ron­men­tal Pol­icy Act.
9 Andy has a par­cel with an ele­va­tion that is sub­stan­tially lower than most of the neigh­bor­ing prop­er­ties. In order to have the same view as neigh­bor­ing parcels, a house built on his par­cel will have to be 18 feet higher than the height limit for the zon­ing dis­trict. If he is to build such a house, he will need: hint A vari­ance is a local land use deci­sion allow­ing a use not strictly in com­pli­ance with local zon­ing or build­ing reg­u­la­tions because of unique con­di­tions of the prop­erty in ques­tion such as its size, topog­ra­phy, shape, etc., to which the strict appli­ca­tion of a zon­ing ordi­nance would deprive the prop­erty of priv­i­leges enjoyed by other prop­erty in the vicin­ity. Points: 1

an amend­ment to the zon­ing dis­trict.
to have the prop­erty re-zoned.
to obtain a con­di­tional use per­mit.
to obtain a vari­ance.
10 Which of the fol­low­ing are among the manda­tory ele­ments of a gen­eral plan? hint All gen­eral plans must have seven manda­tory ele­ments: land use; cir­cu­la­tion; con­ser­va­tion; hous­ing; noise; pub­lic safety; and open space. Points: 1

Parks and recre­ation, noise, and water use
Land use, hous­ing, and pub­lic safety
Open space, water use, and seis­mic safety
Hous­ing, pub­lic util­i­ties, and roads