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CEQA Developments
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CEQA Developments
Navigating Between CEQA’s Scylla and Charybdis: First District Applies Save Tara Analysis and Rejects Claims of Improper Project “Preapproval” in Neighbors For Fair Planning v. City and County of San Francisco
One of the most vexing issues arising under CEQA, particularly in cases of projects involving public-private partnerships or projects requiring public agency financial assistance, is the question of when project…
CEQA Developments
No Common Interest In CEQA Compliance Prior To Project Approval, Holds Fifth District In City of Ceres Decision That Conflicts With Third District’s California Oak Decision And Common Practice
In a partially-published appellate writ decision filed July 8, 2013, the Fifth District Court of Appeal held that while CEQA’s administrative record statute (Pub. Resources Code, § 21167.6) does not impliedly…
CEQA Developments
The New Range Wars: CEQA and the Williamson Act Are Deployed To Fight Global Warming Solutions In Save Panoche Valley
Nothing says “battle royal” quite like pitting several of California’s heavyweight environmental laws against one another in a “winner-take-all” litigation brawl. The Sixth District Court of Appeal recently presided over…
CEQA Developments
Is “Parking” Really A CEQA Impact? Same As It Ever Was!
Judging by all the recent articles and blog posts written about it, many commenters believe the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Taxpayers For Accountable School Bond Spending v. San…
CEQA Developments
CEQA Determination Is Item of Business That Must Be Agendized Under Brown Act, Fifth District Holds
In a partially-published opinion, the Fifth District Court of Appeal held that the Merced County Planning Commission’s failure to mention in its posted agenda that it was considering adoption of…
CEQA Developments
CEQA School In Session: First District Reverses Judgment Invalidating EIR for Desalination Plant Project In North Coast Rivers Alliance
In a lengthy published opinion filed May 21, 2013, the First District Court of Appeal reversed a judgment granting a writ of mandate and upheld as legally adequate under CEQA…
CEQA Developments
The Direction of CEQA “Reform” Under Proposed SB 731: One Step Up and Three Steps Back?
There has been a lot of buzz around proposed SB 731, which is working its way through the State Legislature and will be heard Monday, May 20, in the Senate…
CEQA Developments
Towards Not Reinventing The CEQA Wheel: Resources Agency Adopts New CEQA Guidelines For Streamlined Review of Urban Infill Development
Repetitive CEQA review and analysis is expensive, unnecessary, unproductive, and inimical to the goals of certainty and finality in the environmental review process. In 2011, to address these concerns in…
CEQA Developments
Missing CEQA Statute of Limitations Is Not Excusable Neglect, Third District Holds
In its terse, no-nonsense opinion in Alliance For the Protection of the Auburn Community v. County of Placer, et al. (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 25, ordered published on April 2, 2013, the…
CEQA Developments
First District Holds CEQA Remedies Provision Allows Park District’s Eminent Domain Action To Proceed Pending Preparation of Project EIR So Long As Property Not Actually Acquired
In Golden Gate Land Holdings LLC v. East Bay Regional Park District (4/12/13 1st Dist., Div. 5) 215 Cal.App.4th 353, the First District Court of Appeal explored the scope and…