Blog Entries

A New World Order Not as Previously Imagined

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:00:00 +0100

I once believed that carbon reduction and peak oil would be the defining issues of my generation, and that to be involved in land use was the opportunity and challenge of a lifetime. Instead I am now inclined to believe that the overleveraging of the American consumer debt economy, and its resultant exposure of our economic model as the emperor's new clothes of the capitalist economy of the west may be almost as big an issue, and one that will overshadow our economy and prospects for de [...]

More letters after my name - LEED-AP

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0100

I am pleased to announce that I recently qualified for certification as a LEED Certified Professional and to use the designation "LEED-AP".

After nearly 30 years as a lawyer and planner, the last thing I really needed was more letters after my name - M.C.R.P (Master of City & Regional Planning), J.D. (Juris Doctor), A.I.C.P (American In [...]

Does the private sector value the AICP credential?

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:00:00 +0100

On an internet networking site for planners, a young planner asked whether the private sector values the AICP (American Institute of Certified Planners) credential. Here is my reply:

When I trained in the joint degree program at Rutgers (M.C.R.P. / J.D.) almost 30 years ago, I became a Charter member of APA, when ASPO merged with AIP. N [...]

SB 375 - Good start on the politics, but where's the money?

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:00:00 +0100

In the article recently published in the California Real Property Journal, Vol. 26 No. 4, (January 2009) I explain the problem of governance that combating global warming through more efficient land use and development practices poses for California. The California Constitution directly establishes the police power of cities and counties, and state statutes enshrines the principle of local control for all land use, planning and zoning issues. The California Global Warming Solution [...]

OPR hands CARB back its watch, unwound

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Thresholds of Significance for greenhouse gas emissions retain local discretion in proposed SB 97 CEQA Guidelines revisions

First published in California Planning & Development Report, January 9, 2008

The Governor’s Office of Planning & Research (OPR) has released a draft of the new CEQA Guidelines for assessing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming impacts of and on projects as mandated by SB 97 (Public Resources Code § 21083.05).

The proposed re [...]

AB 32 Scoping Plan Comments of a Land Use & Environmental Attorney without Portfolio

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:00:00 +0100

To: California Air Resources Board

Subject: Comments on Scoping Plan - Regional Transportation Target

Submitted online on December 2, 2008

As a land use and environmental attorney I have followed the development of the Scoping Plan and the regional transportation target closely. I am not commenting on behalf of a client and I am not representing any particular interest group or organization. I am stating my own personal views and professional opinion.

SB 375 req [...]

Climate Change: Local Government Response

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0100

National Business Institute is offering "Climate Change: Local Government Response" on December 12, 2008 at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, 1230 J Street in Sacramento.

The faculty for this seminar are land use and environmental attorneys Timothy D. Crimin of Meyers Nave, Eric W. Davis of Somach, Simmons & Dunn and Joel Ellinwood, AICP Lawyer-Planner. Topics include Planning, Land Use and Climate Change; Local Government Operations and Initiatives and CEQA and Climate [...]

OPR asks for the time and CARB sends instructions on how to build a watch

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0100

[first published in California Planning & Development Report on October 30, 2008]

The old joke about the man on the street who asked a scientist for the time and instead got a two-hour lecture about how to build a watch (and the poor fellow never did find out what time it was) was played out again in Sacramento this week when the California Air Resources Board staff released its "Preliminary Draft Staff Proposal Recommended Approaches for Setting Interim Significance Thresholds [...]

Governing from the center - Chicago style

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0100

When I delivered the three absentee ballots from my household to my poling place on Tuesday morning, November 4, I told the election workers I was from Chicago and so I was following the adage, "vote early and often." At first they weren't sure whether to laugh or call the cops.

Barack Obama's choice for his chief of staff of fellow Chicagoan, Congressman Rahm Emmanuel, known for his tough, competitive, but smart style, reminds me that for good or ill, all the presidents in m [...]

Homebuilders on global warming - Yes We Can!

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 08:00:00 +0100

I spent the Thursday afternoon after the election at a meeting of Northern California homebuilders listening to presentations on the economic outlook for the coming year. The CEO of a large national homebuilding company and one of the most highly regarded locally based builders both acknowledged that green building, infill development and other more sustainable practices are, "the right thing to do." They made references to being stunned reading Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded, [...]

Blaming the victim: the "sub-prime" loan mess is much more than bad mortgages

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:00:00 +0100

Seven hundred billion dollars, the price tag for the congressionally-approved financial market bailout, is an awful lot of money. It's over $2,000.00 for every single man, woman and child living in the United States. Can there really be that much money loaned to people on their homes who can't pay it back? In fact, there isn't - not even close.

"Sub-prime" mortgages have become the media shorthand for the cause of the crisis. The blame ends up placed [...]

Sic Transit Gloria: reality check

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:00:00 +0100

[first published in California Planning & Development Report on October 9, 2008]

One of my personal commitments during the last year or so to a more sustainable future is to take the train and transit whenever I travel if time and routes permit.

At planning conferences during last year, eco-celebrity speakers Ed Begley, Jr. ("Living with Ed" on cable TV and a book with the same title) and Chris Balish ("How to Live Well Without Owning a Car") promoted their [...]

Why planners need market saavy

joel.ellinwood@lawyer-planner.com — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:00:00 +0100

[first published on the California Planning and Development Reporter on October 7, 2008 http://www.cp-dr.com/node/2152] by Joel Ellinwood, AICP

With news of yet another Wall Street icon or banking giant tumbling arriving on an almost daily basis, the Congress and Bush administration enacting a massive $700 billion bailout to prevent a complete meltdown (which probably is only the first installment), and the stock market gyrating wildly with each new shockwave, planners may wonder wh [...]