Procedural Issues

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The City of Napa (City) approved revisions to the housing and land use elements in its General Plan. Upon concluding that the added revisions would have no environmental effects not already identified and mitigated in the EIR prepared for its original general plan from 1998, the City filed a Notice of Determination (NOD). Since the…

Petitioner retained the law firm Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger (Shute) to challenge the City of Newport Beach’s (City) plan to a build a highway on its land. The City responded with a motion to disqualify the law firm, arguing that it was a current client of Shute thus creating a conflict of interest. The trial…

In a case involving a mixed-use development project on a university campus, the Fifth District Court of Appeal held the trial court acted in error by failing to issue a writ following the entry of judgment. If a trial court finds that a decision of a public agency has been made without complying with CEQA,…

The plaintiff challenged the City’s approval and construction of a retail-cinema redevelopment project in the City’s downtown. While the lawsuit was pending before the Superior Court the plaintiff did not seek a temporary injunction or stay and, as a result, the project was fully constructed before the Superior Court issued its ruling in favor of…

Duke Energy (now Dynergy) applied to renew its NPDES permit for its Moss Landing Power Plant (MLPP). The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) issued a revised NPDES permit, determining that the MLPP cooling water intake system represented the “best technology available” (BTA), as required under the Clean Water Act. Voices of…

In Jamulians Against the Casino v. Iwasaki (2012) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, petitioner alleged that a settlement agreement entered between Jamul Indian Village and Caltrans constituted a discretionary approval of a CEQA project by Caltrans.  The settlement agreement at issue disposed of a federal lawsuit between those parties relating to the application of CEQA to the…

In an unpublished decision, Outfitter Properties v. State Water Resources Control Board (2012) 2012 Cal.App.Unpub.LEXIS 1986, the Third Appellate District Court (Court) upheld a trial court’s rejection of petitioner’s consolidated petition for writ of mandate, which sought to put a stop to the “Battle Creek Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Project” (Project). Several agencies, including the…

In No Wetlands Landfill Expansion v. County of Marin (2012) 2012 Cal.App.LEXIS 330, the First Appellate District reversed the trial court’s determination that CEQA required the Marin County Board of Supervisors to hear an administrative appeal from the Marin County Environmental Health Services’s (Marin EHS) approval of a solid waste facilities permit for the expansion…

In an unpublished decision, North County Watch v. County of San Luis Obispo (2012) 2012 Cal.App. Unpub. LEXIS 2312, the Second Appellate District upheld the trial court’s determination that a petitioner was barred as a matter of law from prevailing on its CEQA challenges because petitioner failed to request a hearing within 90 days of…