Description: Challenge to land use approvals for a residential development in southern California.
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Center for Biological Diversity v. County of Los Angeles
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 05/01/2019 Petition for Writ of Mandate Download Verified petition for writ of mandate and complaint for injunctive relief filed. Environmental Groups Launched CEQA Challenge to Residential Development in Southern California. Two environmental organizations filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court challenging approvals for the Northlake Specific Plan Project, which the organizations alleged “would place 3,150 dwelling units on over 1,300 acres of very high fire hazard wildlands next to the Castaic Lake State Recreation Area and the Angeles National Forest.” The organizations asserted violations of the California Environmental Quality Act, including for failures to consider the project’s greenhouse gas impacts, and of the California Planning and Zoning Law. With respect to greenhouse gases, the organizations contended that the environmental impact report (EIR) relied on an improper significance threshold; that the greenhouse gas mitigation measures were vague, deferred, or unenforceable; and that the EIR failed to establish consistency with AB 32 and other applicable state and local plans and policies.