Calvert v. County of Yuba

Decision Date05 December 2006
Docket NumberNo. C047857.,C047857.
Citation145 Cal.App.4th 613,51 Cal.Rptr.3d 797
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
PartiesWilliam CALVERT et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. COUNTY OF YUBA et al., Defendants and Respondents; Western Aggregates LLC, Real Party in Interest and Appellant.

Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro, Kerry Shapiro, Paul L. Warner, San Francisco, and Melanie L. Tang, for Real Party in Interest and Appellant Western Aggregates LLC.

Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld, David A. Rosenfeld, Christian L. Raisner, Theodore Franklin, Alameda, and M. Suzanne Murphy, for Plaintiffs and Appellants William Calvert and Yuba Goldfields Access Coalition.

No appearance on behalf of Defendant and Respondent County of Yuba.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Tom Greene, Chief Assistant Attorney General,

Mary E. Hackenbracht, Assistant Attorney General and Russell B. Hildreth, Deputy Attorney General, for Defendants and Respondents Department of Conservation and State Mining and Geology Board.

DAVIS, J.

This appeal involves the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975. (SMARA; Pub. Resources Code, § 2710 et seq.) Our principal conclusion is that if an entity claims a vested right pursuant to SMARA to conduct a surface mining operation that is subject to the diminishing asset doctrine, that claim must be determined in a public adjudicatory hearing that meets procedural due process requirements of reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard. We give this conclusion limited retroactive effect. We shall affirm the judgment with certain modifications.

Background

The Legislature enacted SMARA in 1975 "to create and maintain an effective and comprehensive surface mining and reclamation policy." (Pub. Resources Code, § 2712.)1 Through SMARA, the Legislature intended to: prevent or minimize adverse environmental effects and reclaim mined lands; encourage the production and conservation of minerals while giving consideration to values relating to recreation, watershed, wildlife, range and forage, and aesthetic enjoyment; and eliminate residual hazards to the public health and safety. (§ 2712, subds. (a), (b), (c).)

At the heart of SMARA is the general requirement that every surface mining operation have a permit, a reclamation plan, and financial assurances to implement the planned reclamation. (§ 2770, subd. (a); People ex rel. Dept. of Conservation v. El Dorado County (2005) 36 Cal.4th 971, 984 32 Cal.Rptr.3d 109, 116 P.3d 567 (El Dorado).)

Under section 2776 of SMARA, though, "[n]o person who has obtained a vested right to conduct surface mining operations prior to January 1, 1976, shall be required to secure a permit pursuant to [SMARA] as long as the vested right continues and as long as no substantial changes are made in the operation.... A person shall be deemed to have vested rights if, prior to January 1, 1976, he or she has, in good faith and in reliance upon a permit or other authorization, if the permit or other authorization was required, diligently commenced surface mining operations and incurred substantial liabilities for work and materials necessary therefor." Notwithstanding a vested right to conduct surface mining operations, the two other basic requirements of SMARA—a reclamation plan and financial assurances—apply to operations conducted after January 1, 1976. (§§ 2776, 2770, subds. (b), (c).)

Recognizing the diverse conditions throughout the state, SMARA provides for "home rule." This means the local lead agency, usually a city or county, has primary responsibility to implement the provisions of SMARA. (§ 2728; El Dorado, supra, 36 Cal.4th at p. 984, 32 Cal.Rptr.3d 109, 116 P.3d 567.) The State Mining and Geology Board (the Board), which is part of the Department of Conservation within the Resources Agency, may step into the shoes and assume the role of the local lead agency if the Board finds that the local agency has not been fulfilling its duties under SMARA. (§§ 601, 660, 2774.4.)

The action before us arises from the determination of Yuba County (County or the County) in May 2000 that Western Aggregates LLC (Western) has a vested right to mine "aggregate" (sand, gravel and rock for construction) from approximately 3,430 acres in the Yuba Goldfields.

The Yuba Goldfields consists of approximately 10,000 acres bordering the Yuba River; it once had been mined for gold and now contains massive aggregate deposits resulting from the placer/hydraulic mining of gold dating to the 19th century.

County determined Western's vested rights after the superior court in a previous lawsuit (the Gilt Edge lawsuit) had concluded in 1999 that County's zoning authorization for surface mining in the Yuba Goldfields was not a proper substitute for a SMARA permit. After this lawsuit, County invited all mine operators, including Western, to apply for a vested rights determination pursuant to SMARA.

In February 2000, Western filed with County its vested rights submittal, consisting of a six-page cover letter, a 70-page memorandum of law and fact, and nearly 370 exhibits. In May 2000, County sent Western a determination letter. The letter stated that the community development director had found, based on Western's vested rights submittal and materials in County's files, that Western has a vested right to mine aggregate in the 3,430 acres of the Yuba Goldfields. This determination was made without notice to adjacent landowners or to the public, and without a hearing. (Western does not presently mine the total 3,430 acres, but is mining in roughly one-third of this area, apparently intending to move into unmined areas as mined areas are depleted of aggregate. Western also has its sights on about 5,000 additional acres in the Yuba Goldfields.)

Challenging the County's vested rights determination as to Western (and other mining operators), William Calvert and the Yuba Goldfields Access Coalition (collectively, Petitioners) sued the County, the State (including the Board and the director of the Department of Conservation; collectively, the State) and Western (real party in interest). Calvert has lived on his ranch in the Yuba Goldfields since 1974 and owns property 300 feet from Western's property. The Yuba Goldfields Access Coalition is a nonprofit organization that includes Yuba County residents and taxpayers. The Coalition seeks to open the Yuba Goldfields for public recreational use and establish environmentally sound uses of the Goldfields' natural resources and the Yuba River.

The operative pleading is the Petitioners'.third amended complaint and petition for writ of mandate, which the trial court reorganized and clarified. All parties on appeal have accepted this reorganized and clarified pleading, and have used it as the centerpiece of their appeals. We will do likewise.

Petitioners' complaint and petition, as it pertains to Western, contains the following five reorganized causes of action: first—a claim against the County and the State to take enforcement action against Western for allegedly violating SMARA by operating without a permit or a valid reclamation plan, seeking as a remedy an injunction or a writ of mandate; second and third— direct actions against Western for violating SMARA by, respectively, not having a permit or vested rights and not having a valid reclamation plan, and seeking an injunction; fourth—a claim against the State that it abused its discretion by not enforcing SMARA and not taking over the functions of the County as the lead agency, and seeking a writ of mandate; and fifth—a claim that County violated due process requirements of notice and hearing in determining that Western has vested rights to mine the 3,430 acres, and seeking a writ of mandate to remand the matter for proper proceedings.

Western moved for summary adjudication or summary judgment, and Petitioners moved for summary adjudication. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c.) The trial court granted Western summary adjudication on the first through fourth causes of action, and granted Petitioners summary adjudication on the fifth. Given the ruling on the fifth cause of action, the trial court denied Western's motion for summary judgment as Western's motion did not dispose of all five causes of action. The cross-motions for summary adjudication did account for all five causes of action, though, and the trial court entered a judgment on this summary adjudication.

Western and Petitioners, in an appeal and a cross-appeal respectively, have appealed their losses here. The only mining operation involved in these appeals is Western's.

DISCUSSION
1. Fifth Cause of Action—Vested Rights Determination and Procedural Due Process

We start with the fifth cause of action because it sets the stage for discussing the others.

On the fifth cause of action, as noted, Petitioners moved successfully for summary adjudication, the trial court finding that the County had violated procedural due process requirements of reasonable notice and hearing in determining that Western has vested rights to mine the 3,430 acres at issue in the Yuba Goldfields. (The parties have continued to use this 3,430-acre figure, although it may be overstated by 120 acres. We will use it as well, and express no view regarding the 120-acre issue.)

In its original summary adjudication order regarding this cause of action, the trial court issued a writ of mandate that vacated County's vested rights determination as to Western and remanded for further proceedings in compliance with procedural due process. Western then moved for clarification, noting that this order did not specify whether the County or the Board would conduct the remanded proceedings. In a modification to the order (carried into the judgment), the trial court remanded to the County for further proceedings, subject to the following three conditions: County was not required to hold a new vested rights proceeding; Western was not required to request one; and if County did hold such a proceeding, it had to satisfy...

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