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CEQA
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CEQA Developments
Third District Adds Brief CEQA Severance Analysis After Rehearing In Save Our Capitol! Case, Limits Its Relief To Allow Capitol Annex Demolition To Go Forward
In an opinion on rehearing filed January 18, 2023, the Third District Court of Appeal reissued its previous published opinion in the Save Our Capitol! case (my January 2, 2023…
Environmental and Climate
Design Changes to State Capitol Renovation Revealed in FEIR Did Not Adequately Allow for Public Input or Informed Decision-Making
By Dustin D. Peterson, Andrew M. Skanchy, Tina Thomas
In Save Our Capitol! v. Department of General Services (2023) 87 Cal.App.5th 655, the Third District Court of Appeal held that the Department of General Services violated CEQA when certain…
California Land Use & Development Law Report
CEQA YEAR IN REVIEW — 2022
By Perkins Coie
A SUMMARY OF PUBLISHED APPELLATE OPINIONS UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT Introduction The courts issued 16 published CEQA decisions in 2022, continuing a trend of fewer published opinions than…
CEQA Developments
Fatal “Exhaustion”: Fifth District Holds CEQA’s Statute of Limitations Ran Out On Plaintiff’s Claim While Plaintiff Thought It Was Still In Process Of Exhausting Administrative Remedies
By Matthew C. Henderson, Arthur F. Coon, Nadine Nassif
As all CEQA practitioners know, a prospective petitioner in a writ proceeding challenging a CEQA determination must first exhaust available administrative remedies as a prerequisite to filing suit. But which…
California Land Use & Development Law Report
Third District Invalidates EIR for State Capitol Renovation Project
By Taylor Jones
Update: On January 18, 2023, the Third District Court of Appeal issued a revised opinion on rehearing, ordering partial decertification of the EIR and allowing certain construction activities to proceed…
California Land Use & Development Law Report
Athletic Field Lighting Project Not Categorically Exempt from CEQA
By Geoffrey Robinson, Perkins Coie
The First District Court of Appeal overturned the City of San Francisco’s decision that Saint Ignatius High School’s project to install four permanent 90-foot-tall athletic field lights was exempt from…
CEQA Developments
When CEQA Litigation Turns Tortious: First District Affirms Order Denying Anti-SLAPP Motion, Allows Malicious Prosecution Action To Proceed Against Counsel Who Brought Unsuccessful CEQA Challenge To Single-Home Project
While CEQA is a complicated area of law, often criticized as a “plaintiff’s sandbox,” CEQA litigation is not a “free-for-all” immune from malicious prosecution actions when it is unsuccessfully pursued…
CEQA Developments
A “Capitol” Offense: Third District Holds State Capitol Building Annex/Visitor Center Project EIR Violated CEQA Due To Inadequate Project Description And Analyses Of Historical Cultural Impacts, Aesthetics, And Project Alternatives
In a published opinion filed December 6, 2022, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed in part and affirmed in part the trial court’s judgment denying writ petitions in consolidated…
California Land Use & Development Law Report
Meritless CEQA Suit Warranted Malicious Prosecution Claim Against Attorney
By Perkins Coie
The court of appeal held that an attorney’s actions in filing and prosecuting a meritless challenge to construction of a single-family home supported a claim for malicious prosecution. Jenkins v.…
Administrative and Regulatory
Court Finds Site Visits and Reports Taken Before and After Issuance of NOP Adequate for Establishing Biological Resources Baseline, EIR’s Emergency Evacuation Analysis Upheld
By Dustin D. Peterson, Tina Thomas, Amy R. Higuera
Effective January 1, 2023, Thomas Law Group (TLG) will merge with Downey Brand. We are thrilled to welcome the TLG team to CEQA Chronicles and look forward to sharing their…