Arguing Impacts By Proxy: Fourth District Holds CEQA Does Not Require EIR Absent Evidence That Subdivision Approval Actually Violated Applicable Land Use Regulations Adopted to Mitigate Environmental Impacts

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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