2017 Is Not the Year of CEQA Reform

LOS ANGELES—California developers frequently complain about the copious regulations in California for developers. At NAIOP’s annual I.Con event, experts came together for the on the Cracking the Code on California Mandates panel to give professionals an update on the regulatory environment. During the panel, it was clear that developers are disheartened by the current regulatory environment.

The misuse of CEQA and CEQA lawsuits were a main issue for the developers, who said that it was one of the major problems—but don’t expect any changes soon. “2017 is not the year of CEQA or regulatory reform,” Rex Hime, president and CEO of the California Business Properties Association, said on the panel. Al Cvitan, managing partner at Reich, Adell & Cvitan, is working toward some improvement. “We know that CEQA needs to be reformed the process needs to be streamlined so that the building gets out of the ground,” said Cvitan. “One of the problems is that there are no standing requirements to bring a CEQA lawsuit.” He is working on a bill that would create requirements to bring a CEQA lawsuit. “We want to put a flashlight on what was happening.”