Federation of Hillside Ass'n v. Los Angeles

• Decision Date: 10 November 2004
• Docket Number: No. B166819.,B166819.
• Citation: 126 Cal.App.4th 1180,24 Cal.Rptr.3d 543
• Parties: FEDERATION OF HILLSIDE AND CANYON ASSOCIATIONS et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES et al., Defendants and Respondents.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

24 Cal.Rptr.3d 543

126 Cal.App.4th 1180

FEDERATION OF HILLSIDE AND CANYON ASSOCIATIONS et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES et al., Defendants and Respondents.

No. B166819.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Three.

November 10, 2004.

Rehearing Denied December 3, 2004.

Review Denied February 16, 2005.

Lawrence Teeter for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Rockard J. Delgadillo, City Attorney, Susan D. Pfann and Jack L. Brown, Assistant City Attorneys, for Defendants and Respondents.

CROSKEY, Acting P.J Federation of Hillside and Canyon Associations and Coalition Against the Pipeline (collectively Petitioners) appeal the denial of their petition for writ of mandate against City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles City Council (collectively the city). Petitioners challenged the city's approval of a revised General Plan Framework and the city's findings and statement of overriding considerations under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) in connection with that approval. We conclude that Petitioners have not shown error and affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Prior General Plan Framework, EIR, and CEQA Findings

The General Plan Framework, an element of the city's general plan, states policies, objectives, and goals for the long-term growth of the city. The General Plan Framework influences but is separate from other general plan elements, which together comprise the general plan. The city completed a proposed General Plan Framework and a draft environmental impact report (EIR) and provided public notice and an opportunity to review and comment beginning in January 1995.

The proposed General Plan Framework included proposed operational and physical improvements to traffic systems and infrastructure, policies to encourage the use of public transit and reduce vehicle trips, and other measures to reduce traffic congestion and improve accessibility. It identified several programs necessary to implement the General Plan Framework, including a proposed "Transportation Improvement Mitigation Plan" (TIMP), described as a program to mitigate the transportation impacts of the General Plan Framework's land use and growth policies. It also called for the development of a general plan transportation element, superseding the prior circulation element, to describe specific proposals in greater detail. The General Plan Framework provided for the city to continue to monitor population and employment growth and the effects on transportation.

The draft EIR analyzed the environmental impacts of the General Plan Framework, TIMP, and related planning and zoning code amendments. It stated that the General Plan Framework would result in significant increases in traffic congestion and would reduce average free-way speeds by as much as 50 percent by the year 2010. The draft EIR also stated, however, that the mitigation measures included in the TIMP would reduce those impacts to a level of insignificance. It also proposed further mitigation measures, including greater support for zero-emission and low-emission vehicles, greater expansion of bus and rail transit systems, and other measures. It stated that the mitigation measures would reduce the cumulative significant effects on transportation "to the extent feasible."

The city completed the proposed TIMP in February 1995, after it had circulated the proposed General Plan Framework and draft EIR. The city made the TIMP available to the public in February 1995 but did not provide formal public notice or recirculate the draft EIR at that time. The TIMP included several proposals to improve the existing transportation infrastructure and increase its capacity, provide additional rail and bus transit, and encourage greater use of public transit and telecommuting. The TIMP stated that to implement the proposals would require the cooperative efforts of several state, local, and federal public agencies together with the city at a cost of approximately $12 billion over 20 years. It stated that a substantial portion of the cost must be borne by state and regional agencies, and that a preliminary analysis indicated that the city's portion of the cost would far exceed its anticipated revenues, including revenues from Proposition C local return funds, gasoline taxes, development fees, street dedications and improvements related to private development, and the city's general fund.

The city produced a final EIR in June 1996 and an amended General Plan Framework in July 1996. Both documents cited and relied in large part on the TIMP mitigation measures to alleviate the significant effects on transportation. The final EIR stated that the project-specific effects on transportation were significant but could be substantially reduced through mitigation. It also stated, however, that even with the mitigation measures the cumulative adverse impacts on the Los Angeles region would be significant and unavoidable.

The city also prepared a document entitled "Proposed CEQA Findings and Statement of Overriding Considerations" (Proposed Findings) in July 1996. The Proposed Findings stated that the General Plan Framework's land use policy and the mitigation measures identified in the TIMP and final EIR would avoid or substantially reduce the significant impacts on transportation, but that even with mitigation the cumulative impact on transportation would be significant and unavoidable. The Proposed Findings discussed several alternatives to the General Plan Framework, concluded that they would not achieve the city's central objectives and were infeasible, and found that specific overriding considerations outweighed the unavoidable significant effects on the environment.

The city council held a public hearing on the proposal in July 1996 and amended the General Plan Framework. After further public hearings before the planning commission and city council, the city approved the General Plan Framework, adopted the Proposed Findings, and certified the final EIR at a public hearing in December 1996.

2. Prior Litigation

Petitioners filed a petition for writ of mandate in the superior court in January 1997, challenging the sufficiency of the EIR and the city's failure to recirculate the draft EIR after releasing the TIMP. They argued that in light of the statement in the TIMP that the city's projected revenues were inadequate to meet its share of the TIMP's substantial costs, the mitigation measures upon which the draft EIR relied were infeasible, that the mitigation measures depended upon the cooperation of other public agencies and funding from those agencies was highly speculative, and that there was no substantial evidence to support the finding that the significant effects on transportation would be mitigated. They also argued that there was no substantial evidence to support the city's finding that water resources would be sufficient, that the EIR did not adequately address feasible alternative plans and the impact of population growth, and that the city's failure to recirculate the draft EIR after the TIMP was released invalidated the EIR. The trial court concluded that the city was required to circulate the TIMP for review and comment and ordered the city to do so, but rejected Petitioners' other challenges to the EIR. Petitioners and the city appealed the judgment.

The city complied with the trial court's order by circulating the TIMP for review and comment beginning in November 1998, while the appeal was pending. The city amended the final EIR by adding its responses to comments on the TIMP and certified the amended final EIR in September 1999.

On appeal, we determined that there was no substantial evidence to support the city's finding that transportation impacts would be mitigated because the city had acknowledged that funding for the TIMP was highly uncertain and made no provision to ensure that the TIMP would actually be implemented. (Federation of Hillside & Canyon Associations v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 83 Cal.App.4th 1252, 1261-1262, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 301.) We rejected Petitioners' challenges to other findings and to the EIR. (Id. at pp. 1262-1265, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 301.) We stated, "We find no fault with the EIR itself, but only with the GPF and the city's finding on transportation impacts." (Id. at p. 1266, 100 Cal. Rptr.2d 301.) We concluded that the city's appeal was moot because the city had complied with the trial court's order to circulate the TIMP. (Id. at p. 1266, 100 Cal. Rptr.2d 301.)

We therefore reversed the judgment denying the petition for writ of mandate and remanded the matter with directions to the superior court to grant the petition and order the city to vacate its approval of the General Plan Framework and its finding on transportation impacts. (Federation of Hillside & Canyon Associations v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1266-1267, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 301.) We stated, "The city may comply with CEQA by amending the GPF so that effective mitigation measures are required as a condition of the development allowed under the GPF or by restricting the scope of development and then making a finding under section 21081, subdivision (a)(1), or by making a finding of overriding considerations as to the significant effects on transportation. [Fn. omitted.]" (Id. at p. 1266, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 301.) On remand, the superior court ordered the city to vacate its approval of the General Plan Framework and to "comply with the California Environmental Quality Act," and quoted the foregoing language from our opinion.

3. Revised General Plan Framework and CEQA Findings

The city council adopted several amendments to the General Plan Framework before we filed our opinion in Federation of Hillside & Canyon Associations v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 1252, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 301. Petitioners do not discuss or challenge those amendments. After our opinion and a new judgment by ...