In 2012, the City of Kingsburg began the process of annexing approximately 430 acres of land in Fresno County, including developed land that was home to three major facilities: a glass manufacturing plant, a grape processing facility, and a raisin processing plant. The land proposed for annexation separates the City of Kingsburg from the City of Selma, which is located approximately five miles to the north.
Before approving the annexation, Kingsburg concluded that the project would not cause any significant environmental impacts with mitigation and prepared a mitigated negative declaration (MND). When Kinsgburg certified the MND in September of 2012, it also requested that the Fresno County Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCo) initiate proceedings to approve the annexation. After continuing the annexation hearing several times, LAFCo approved the annexation on July 17, 2013.The City of Selma brought two actions challenging the decision: one against Kingsburg and one against LAFCo.
The court decided City of Selma v. City of Kingsburg, 2016 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5207 in an unpublished opinion. The City of Selma had challenged the CEQA process used by Kingsburg to approve the annexation and to repeal certain design standards applicable to the annexation area that concerned the large glass manufacturer, including a requirement to place electrical and telecommunications lines underground.
The court first held that written materials relevant to the agency’s compliance with CEQA must be included in the administrative record, even if the documents were prepared after the project was approved. Next, the court affirmed the trial court and held that Kingsburg had complied with CEQA for the annexation project by preparing an MND. In doing so, the court rejected Selma’s challenges to the adequacy and scope of the water supply analysis and Kingsburg’s ability to provide fire protection to the annexed area.
Finally, the court found that Kingsburg had failed to demonstrate that the common sense exception applied to the repeal of the design standards. The court rejected Kingsburg’s argument that the existence of other standards precluded the possibility that repealing the design standards could cause significant environmental impacts. The Court also held that Kingsburg erred by failing to reference the factual record in its notice of exemption.
The Fifth Appellate District partially published its opinion in City of Selma v. Fresno County Local Agency Formation Commission, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 581. For various reasons, the LAFCo hearing had originally been noticed for April 10, 2013 but was continued until July 17, 2013. Selma argued that this violated Government Code section 56666, subdivision (a)’s 70-day limitation for continuances. The court agreed, but concluded that the 70-day limitation is directory rather than mandatory pursuant to section 56106.
The court contrasted this provision with Government Code section (h), a mandatory provision which requires an annexation hearing to be scheduled for a date not more than 90 days after the annexation application was received. Because the continuance provision at issue was directory rather than mandatory, the remedy was not reversal of LAFCo’s determination. The court acknowledged that this holding made the 70-day continuance limitation “relatively toothless.”
Key Point: Failure to comply with the continuance limitation, as opposed to the initial scheduling requirement, for LAFCo annexation proceedings will not result in a reversal of the LAFCo’s determination.