Procedural Issues

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In Tomlinson v. County of Alameda (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 1406, the petitioners challenged the County’s determination that the infill exemption set forth in the CEQA Guidelines (Section 15332) applied to a development project located within the County and not within a city. The County argued the petitioners failed to exhaust their administrative remedies on this…

On March 9, 2012, the Fifth Appellate District ordered a portion of its decision in Consol. Irrigation Dist. v. City of Selma (2012) __ Cal.App.4th __ (2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 277) published. Specifically, the Court ordered all but Sections I.A., III., IV.C., IV.D., V., and VI. of DISCUSSION published. The portions of the opinion ordered…

In Building a Better Redondo v. City of Redondo Beach (February 22, 2012) __ Cal.App.4th __ (Case No. 124769), a group of slow-growth advocates brought a petition for writ of mandate and declaratory relief against the City of Redondo Beach, seeking an order compelling the city to submit a local coastal program amendment to public…

In an unpublished decision, Bedford v. Santa Barbara County, 2012 Cal.App.Unpub.LEXIS 886, the Second Appellate District upheld a trial court’s ruling denying a petition challenging the adequacy of an environmental impact report for a wind farm project in Santa Barbara County. First, the Court upheld the trial court’s determination that the Petitioners failed to…

In an unpublished decision, Kentfield-Union Neighborhood Ass’n v. Redwood City Council, 2012 Cal.App.Unpub.LEXIS 736, the First Appellate District upheld the trial court’s ruling that the Redwood City Council complied with CEQA in preparing an initial study and adopting a mitigated negative declaration for a 21-unit housing complex in Redwood City (Project). In reaching its…

In Friends of Roeding Park v. City of Fresno (E.D. 2012) 2848 F. Supp. 2d 1152, the District Court granted the city’s motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ lawsuit challenging the planned expansion of the Fresno Chafee Zoo ruling (1) the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Historic Preservation Act…

General Development Co. v. City of Santa Maria (January 25, 2012)  202 Cal.App.4th 1391

A developer applied to change the zoning designation for a 4.84 acre parcel of vacant land.  The City of Santa Maria denied the request, and the developer filed a lawsuit, 97 days after the city’s final decision.  The court dismissed developer’s…

In May of 2011, the City of South Lake Tahoe (City) adopted the South Lake Tahoe General Plan Update (Plan). Prior to adopting the Plan, the City determined that certain elements of the Plan were not consistent with the 1987 Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s (TRPA) Regional Plan for Lake Tahoe. Because TRPA was in the…