In League to Save Lake Tahoe Mt. Area Pres. Found. v. County of Placer (2022) 75 Cal.App.5th 63, the Third District Court of Appeal held that a land use specific plan and rezoning permit for commercial and residential development, including workforce housing, of forest land in the Martis Valley near the Northstar California Ski Resort … Continue Reading
In Old E. Davis Neighborhood Assn v. City of Davis (Dec. 20, 2021, C090117) ___Cal.App.5th___ [2021 Cal. App. LEXIS 1114], the Third District Court of Appeal upheld the City of Davis’s (City) determination that a proposed mixed-use development project (Project) was consistent with the City’s General Plan (GP). The Court held that the City’s approval … Continue Reading
In Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods v. Regents of the University of California (2020) 51 Cal. App. 5th 226, the First District Court of Appeal overruled a demurrer rejecting community members’ allegations that the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) violated CEQA by failing to analyze enrollment increases beyond the development envelope considered in the campus … Continue Reading
In The Inland Oversight Committee v. City of San Bernardino (2018) 27 Cal.App.5th 771, the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed a judgement entered by the trial court sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend, holding that a mandate action brought by The Inland Oversight Committee (IOC), CREED-21, and the Highland Hills Homeowners Association (HOA) alleging CEQA … Continue Reading
In an unpublished opinion, City of Milpitas v. City of San Jose, 2015 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 8610, the Sixth Appellate District upheld the City of San Jose’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the Newby Island Sanitary Landfill and Recyclery. The programmatic EIR assessed the impacts of: (1) increasing the maximum elevation of the … Continue Reading
This month, the Third District Court of Appeal issued two unpublished opinions on pending CEQA suits challenging the Railyards development in Sacramento. Both opinions affirm the decisions of the trial court and conclude that the City of Sacramento complied with CEQA when it adopted the Railyards Specific Plan and the Railyards Redevelopment Plan. In Sacramento … Continue Reading
In an opinion issued April 9, 2015, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley denied a petition for a writ of mandate challenging the environmental impact report (EIR) for the McKinley Village infill development project in East Sacramento. The court also rejected petitioner’s argument that McKinley Village conflicted with the City of Sacramento’s General Plan. Thomas … Continue Reading
On November 24, 2014, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth District granted a request to publish the recent case Sierra Club v. County of San Diego, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 1077. In the decision, the appellate court affirmed the trial court and granted a writ of mandate requiring a supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) … Continue Reading
In a split decision in Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. San Diego Association of Governments, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 1070, a majority of the three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District affirmed a writ of mandate challenging the San Diego Association of Governments’ (SANDAG) environmental review of its 2050 Regional … Continue Reading
In Saltonstall v. City of Sacramento, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 1053, the California Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the constitutionality of a legislative amendment to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that shortened the deadlines for review of a sports arena project in downtown Sacramento. The court also affirmed the trial court’s denial of … Continue Reading
In an unpublished decision in Sierra Club v. County of San Diego, 2014 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 7762, the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District granted a writ of mandate to enforce a mitigation measure in San Diego County’s (County) 2011 general plan update to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the County. … Continue Reading
In Town of Atherton v. Cal. High-Speed Rail Authority, (2014) Cal. App. LEXIS 670, the Court of Appeal for the Third District upheld the final program environmental impact report (EIR) for the segment of the California High Speed Rail project linking the San Francisco Bay Area to the Central Valley. In the EIR, the California … Continue Reading
In Citizens for a Sustainable Treasure Island v. City and County of San Francisco, (2014) Cal. App. LEXIS 595, the Court of Appeal for the First District affirmed the trial court’s denial of a petition for a writ of mandate challenging the City and County of San Francisco’s (the City) approval of an environmental impact … Continue Reading
On July 2, 2014, Judge Evelio Grillo of the Alameda County Superior Court issued a 30-page decision in Bay Area Citizens v. Assn. of Bay Area Governments, et al (Case No. RG13690631), upholding approval of Plan Bay Area by the Association of Bay Area Governments and Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Plan Bay Area is the regional … Continue Reading
In an unpublished opinion, California Clean Energy Committee v. City of Woodland, 2014 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1481, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s denial of a petition for writ of mandate to vacate the City of Woodland’s certification of an EIR for a regional shopping center. In 2007, a developer … Continue Reading
In an unpublished decision, Sierra Club v. County of Tehama (2012) 2012 Cal.App.Unpub.Lexis 8813, the Third District Court of Appeal issued a decision upholding the trial court’s denial of Sierra Club’s petition for a writ of mandate against the County of Tehama (County). Sierra Club alleged that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the … Continue Reading
On April 23, 2012, the Planning and Conservation League (PCL) filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Assembly Bill No. 900 (2011-2012 Reg. Sess.) (see Conservation League v. State of California, RG12626904 (Alameda Sup. Ct.) available at http://www.cnsenvironmentallaw.com/2012/04/26/Conservation.pdf.) AB 900 requires CEQA litigation challenging eligible projects to skip over the superior court and be heard … Continue Reading
On January 25, 2012, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) released draft CEQA Guidelines to implement Senate Bill (SB) 226. Signed by the Governor last October, SB 226 promotes infill development by: (1) providing flexibility in project design by basing eligibility largely on environmental performance rather than prescribed project characteristics; and (2) avoiding … Continue Reading
