Description: Challenge to approval of mixed-use infill project near commuter rail station in California.
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Covina Residents for Responsible Development v. City of Covina
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 02/28/2018 Opinion Download Opinion issued upholding approval of project. California Appellate Court Agreed That CEQA Exemption for Parking Impacts Applied to Development Near Commuter Rail. The California Court of Appeal upheld the City of Covina’s approval of a 68-unit mixed-use infill project located a quarter-mile from a commuter rail station. The court agreed with the City that the project’s parking impacts were exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review under a statutory exemption enacted in 2013 that provided that aesthetic and parking impacts of certain types of development on infill sites in transit priority areas are not considered significant impacts on the environment. The court noted that the statutory exemption was part of a bill “to further the Legislature’s strategy of encouraging transitoriented, infill development consistent with the goal of reducing greenhouse gases.”