The County of San Diego planning staff found a project qualified for a CEQA exemption under Guideline 15183, which applies to projects consistent with a general plan for which an EIR had been prepared. On appeal, the Board of Supervisors reversed staff’s decision, finding an EIR was required due to environmental impacts peculiar to the
CEQA
The First Project Approval Establishes the Appropriate Statute Of Limitations for CEQA Challenges, Even When the CEQA Document Is Later Re-Adopted
A court of appeal held a CEQA challenge time-barred because it was not commenced within 30 days after a Notice of Determination (NOD) was filed for approval of a subdivision map based upon a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND). The fact that the map and its vested rights were conditioned upon a later rezoning did not…
Class 7 CEQA Exemption Requires Only a Showing of Protection of a Natural Resource, Not the Entire Environment, and a Potential For Environmental Impacts Does Not Prevent Use of a CEQA Exemption
A court upheld an ordinance that restricted development standards in designated overlay zones to protect wildlife corridors, finding that it did not establish a “use” that would be subject to certain requirements of the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA). The court also upheld the County’s reliance on CEQA exemptions for the protection of a…
Court Upholds EIR for UCSF Parnassus Expansion Against Wide-Ranging CEQA Claims
The First District Court of Appeal has approved an EIR analyzing a proposed fifty percent increase in density at the Parnassus campus of the University of California, San Francisco. Yerba Buena Neighborhood Consortium, LLC v. Regents of the University of California, 95 Cal.App.5th 779 (2023, petitions for review filed 10/30/2023).
In the five…
Fair Argument Standard Did Not Apply to Claim Regarding Exception to CEQA’s Historical Resources Categorical Exemption
This case addressed both application of CEQA’s categorical exemption for renovation of historical resources and application of an exception to the exemption that turned on the question whether the project complied with Secretary of Interior standards regarding renovation of historic structures. The court ruled that this issue is to be reviewed under the substantial evidence…
Monterey Water Saga Continues: County’s Approval of Desalination Plant Upheld Against CEQA Challenges
A court of appeal has upheld Monterey County’s approvals for a desalination plant, rejecting challengers’ claims that uncertainty regarding the availability of source water for the plant necessitated additional CEQA review. Marina Coast Water District v. County of Monterey, 96 Cal.App.5th 46 (2023).
In 2018, the California Public Utilities Commission, acting as the CEQA…
Court Approves EIR’s Climate Change Analysis for Community Master Plan
The Third District Court of Appeal has held that Sacramento County’s environmental impact report for a master planned community complied with CEQA’s requirements for analysis of greenhouse gas emissions. Tsakopoulos Investments, LLC v. County of Sacramento, 95 Cal.App.5th 280 (2023). Describing in detail the County’s analysis, the court held that substantial evidence –…
Trial Court Cannot Retain Jurisdiction if Terms of Peremptory Writ of Mandate are Fully Satisfied
The trial court improperly retained jurisdiction of a CEQA challenge after the City of San Diego filed a return to the peremptory writ of mandate confirming that it had rescinded the project approvals and thereby satisfied the terms of the writ. McCann v. City of San Diego, 94 Cal. App. 5th 284 (2023).
This…
School Districts’ Challenge to EIR Based on Inadequate School-Facilities Funding was Speculative
The Court of Appeal rejected a challenge by two school districts to a specific plan EIR, finding the districts’ claim that the EIR should have analyzed off-site impacts resulting from inadequate school facilities to be speculative. Santa Rita Union School Dist. v. City of Salinas, 94 Cal.App.5th 298 (2023).
The City approved a specific…
County’s Claimed Failure to Comply with CEQA Was Not a Defense to Enforcement of Encroachment Laws
Property owners who acted illegally by blocking parking on a public street fronting their houses were not entitled to use the County’s alleged noncompliance with CEQA as a defense to actions enforcing encroachment laws. Anderson v. County of Santa Barbara, 94 Cal.App.5th 554 (2023).
Property owners in the Montecito area of Santa Barbara County…