In an opinion filed August 10, and later ordered published on September 7, 2018, the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Div. 2) affirmed a judgment denying Friends of Riverside’s Hills’ (FRH) writ petition challenging a residential development permit and related Negative Declaration issued by the City of Riverside (City) for a six-home, 11-acre subdivision in an environmentally sensitive area. Friends of Riverside’s Hills v. City of Riverside (Carlton R. Lofgren, as Trustee, etc., et al., Real Parties in Interest) (2018) ___ Cal.App.5th ____. The most interesting CEQA aspect of the decision was FRH’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt – invoking the precedent of Pocket Protectors v. City of Sacramento (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 903 – to support a “fair argument” of potential environmental effects (which would invalidate the project’s Negative Declaration and require preparation of an EIR) essentially “by proxy,”…
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