City of Maywood v. L. A. Unified Sch. Dist.
| Decision Date | 28 November 2012 |
| Docket Number | Nos. B233739,B236408.,s. B233739 |
| Parties | CITY OF MAYWOOD, Petitioner and Respondent, v. LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT et al., Respondents and Appellants. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
David R. Holmquist, General Counsel, Jay F. Golida, Associate General Counsel; R. Bruce Tepper, ALC, Los Angeles, and R. Bruce Tepper; Pircher, Nichols & Meeks, Los Angeles, Fernando Villa and Jeffrey N. Brown, for Respondents and Appellants.
Law Offices of Beth S. Dorris and Beth Dorris, for Petitioner and Respondent.
The City of Maywood filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking to overturn the Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) decision to certify a final environmental impact report (FEIR) analyzing the environmental consequences of constructing a high school. Maywood argued that the FEIR did not satisfy the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it failed to adequately assess various environmental impacts and did not include a sufficient discussion of project alternatives. Maywood also alleged that the LAUSD's decision to certify the FEIR violated school siting procedures enumerated in the Education Code.
Although the trial court rejected a majority of Maywood's claims, it found that the FEIR was deficient in four ways. First, it concluded that the report failed to consider whether the design of the school campus, which was bisected by an active roadway, presented any significant impacts to pedestrian safety. Second, the court concluded that the report did not adequately assess whether the project site was contaminated with hazardous materials. Third, it found that the report failed to analyze the cumulative impacts from a planned expansion of the I–710 freeway. Fourth, the court ruled that the report did not contain a sufficient discussion of project alternatives.
The trial court entered a peremptory writ prohibiting the LAUSD from taking any further actions to approve the project until it had prepared and certified a revised EIR. In addition, the court granted a motion awarding Maywood approximately $670,000 in attorneys' fees pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5.
The LAUSD appeals the peremptory writ and the trial court's order awarding attorneys' fees. We affirm in part, reverse in part and remand for further proceedings. We affirm the portion of the writ requiring the LAUSD to address whether the proposed design of the project presents significant impacts to pedestrian safety. The remainder of the trial court's writ is reversed. We also reverse the trial court's order awarding attorneys' fees and remand for further proceedings.
The project at issue is the construction of “South Region High School No. 8,” intended to serve the Los Angeles Unified School District's South Region Planning Area. The project has several objectives, including: “[r]eliev[ing] overcrowding at Bell High ...”; “[e]liminat[ing] involuntary busing of students”; and “[p]rovid[ing] multipurpose fields for students and community use outside normal school operation hours ...”; “[p]rovid[ing] an adult school program to serve demand in the local area while making efficient use of educational facilities.”
The project site is located in the City of Maywood and consists of two city blocks approximately a half-mile from the I–710 freeway. The 8.37–acre site is bordered by 57th Street on the north, Slauson Avenue on the south, King Avenue on the west and Mayflower Avenue on the east. The site is bisected by 58th Street, which divides the campus along an east/west axis.
The proposed project would consist of 146,000 square feet of school facilities to accommodate up to 1,215 high school students. The southern block of the campus, situated south of 58th Street, will include 43 classrooms, a library, a performing arts center, a multi-purpose facility, a gymnasium, a medical clinic, a food services area and additional space for maintenance and other support services.
The northern block of the campus, situated north of 58th Street, will include a lighted football/soccer stadium that will seat approximately 1,200 people, a 40,000 square foot parking garage and a set of basketball courts located on the roof of the parking garage. The two sides of the campus will be connected by a pedestrian bridge on the east side of the project site that spans 58th Street. The bridge will be accessible from the northern side of the campus through the top level of the parking garage (where the basketball courts are located) and will be accessible from the southern side of the campus through the gymnasium.
At the time the LAUSD announced the project, the two city blocks within the project site contained seven parcels of commercial property and 40 parcels of residential property. The commercial parcels included nine commercial units and the residential parcels included 119 units of housing consisting of 10 single-family units, 29 multi-family units and a motel.
In July 2009, the LAUSD issued a “Notice of Preparation and Initial Study” (NOP) announcing that it was “proposing to construct and operate a new high school on a 9.4 acre site at the northeast corner of Slauson Avenue and King Avenue, in the City of Maywood.” 1 The NOP indicated that 8.65 acres of the site consisted of two city blocks bordered by 57th Street, Mayflower Avenue, Slauson Avenue and King Avenue. The remaining 0.75 acres consisted of the portion of 58th Street that ran between the two blocks, which would be vacated and incorporated into the project. The NOP was accompanied by several appendices, including a cultural resources and architectural evaluation, a geological seismic hazard report, an environmental site assessment report, a health risk assessment and a rail safety study.
The NOP concluded that the project could result in significant environmental impacts and would therefore require the preparation of an environmental impact report. The LAUSD announced that, as part of the review process, it had scheduled a scoping meeting to allow members of the community to express their “views regarding the ... content of the environmental information that should be included in the EIR.”
During the scoping meeting, which was held on August 19, 2009, several Maywood residents and government officials informed the LAUSD that its proposed design was infeasible because Maywood would not allow the school district to close the portion of 58th Street that bisected the project site. In response to these comments, LAUSD officials stated that they were aware of “the 58th Street issue” and intended to work with Maywood to resolve the matter.
Other residents and local government officials expressed concern that “an upcoming project on the 710 freeway w[ould] open up exit-ramps onto Slauson Avenue, which could greatly increase traffic in the area of the school.” A member of the Maywood Planning Commission, commented that the “ extension of the 710 fwy. needs to be addressed ... since it would impact the local school sites, children and air quality.” In response, the LAUSD stated that the EIR would look into the issue of the 710 exit”
Several meeting attendees also commented that the LAUSD should investigate the project site for potential ground and water contamination caused by hazardous materials. Although the NOP had concluded that the project would present no significant impacts from the potential release of hazardous materials, members of the community requested that the LAUSD conduct a more thorough analysis as part of the EIR process.
Participants expressed concerns on a wide variety of additional potential project impacts, including the displacement of Maywood residents, destruction of cultural resources, traffic and parking.
In December of 2009, the LAUSD released its draft environmental impact report (DEIR). The project description in the DEIR indicated that the LAUSD had altered the original design of the project. Rather than incorporating 58th Street into the project site, the new design left 58th Street as an active roadway that bisected the site. The new design also included a pedestrian bridge over 58th Street connecting the northern and southern sides of the campus. The student drop-off zone would be located on the south side of 58th Street, in close proximity to the main entrance to the classrooms and other school facilities, and across the street from the football stadium and the parking garage.
As required under the CEQA Guidelines,2 the DEIR contained a chapter summarizing “areas of controversy” that had been raised by the public and other government agencies during the NOP comment period. (See Guidelines, § 15123, subd. (b)(2).) A list summarizing the “potential areas of controversy” included “cumulative impacts with the proposed I–710 expansion”; “Consideration of alternate sites”; “The City of Maywood will not approve the vacation of 58th Street describedin the Initial Study”; “[h]azardous material that may exist onsite.”
An accompanying table listed each comment received during the comment period and the section of the DEIR that addressed each comment. In response to comments that Maywood did not intend to vacate 58th Street, the DEIR referred to a section describing the current design of the project, which left 58th Street as an active roadway. In response to comments requesting that the LAUSD consider the proposed expansion of the I–710 freeway, the DEIR referred to a subchapter describing the effects on transportation and traffic. That chapter, however, contained no discussion or reference to the I–710 expansion project.
The DEIR listed numerous additional comments, including concerns about...
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