In a short published opinion filed September 13, 2019, the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 4) affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying a historic preservation group’s mandate petition seeking to compel preparation of an EIR by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR or department). Plaintiff The Lake Norconian Club Foundation (foundation) argued CDCR was required to analyze its decision not to repair and maintain the Lake Norconian Club, an unoccupied and severely deteriorated former luxury resort hotel that sits on CDCR’s property adjacent to a medium-security prison. The hotel, which once catered to Hollywood stars and sports celebrities, was opened in 1929, closed in 1941, and was thereafter variously used as a military hospital, drug rehabilitation center, and CDCR administrative offices; now vacant, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The trial court denied the writ on statute of limitations grounds, but the First District affirmed “on the ground that the department’s inaction is not a project subject to CEQA.” The Lake Norconian Club Foundation v. Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (City of Norco, Real Party in Interest) (2019) 39 Cal.App.5th 1044.
Continue Reading CDCR’s Inaction In Failing To Maintain Historic Former Hotel Not A “Project” Subject To CEQA, Holds First District
Project Definition
Not A CEQA “Project”? Not So Fast, Lead Agency! Supreme Court Reverses Fourth District’s Decision That San Diego’s Adoption of Medical Marijuana Dispensary Ordinance Was Not A Project Requiring CEQA Review
By Arthur F. Coon on
Introduction And Overview
On August 19, 2019, the California Supreme Court issued its unanimous 38-page opinion, authored by Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye, in the CEQA “project definition” case we’ve been tracking with interest. Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, Inc. v. City of San Diego (California Coastal Commission, Real Party in Interest) (2019) 7 Cal.5th 1171, Case No. S238563. As anticipated based on the high court’s questioning and remarks at oral argument (see “Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in CEQA Project Definition Case,” posted June 6, 2019), it reversed the Fourth District Court of Appeal’s decision that the City’s approval of the medical marijuana dispensary ordinance at issue was not a CEQA “project”; accordingly, it held that the City was required to treat it as such and “proceed to the next steps of the CEQA analysis.”…