Stop Syar Expansion v. Cnty. of Napa
Decision Date | 25 March 2021 |
Docket Number | A158723 |
Citation | 278 Cal.Rptr.3d 134,63 Cal.App.5th 444 |
Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
Parties | STOP SYAR EXPANSION, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. COUNTY OF NAPA, Defendant and Respondent; Syar Industries, Inc., Real Party in Interest and Respondent. |
Certified for Partial Publication.*
Chatten-Brown, Carstens & Minteer LLP, Amy C. Minteer, Santa Monica, Michelle N. Black, Hermosa Beach, and Sunjana Supekar for Petitioner and Appellant.
Napa County Counsel, Jeffrey M. Brax, Laura J. Anderson, Sonoma, and Christopher Y. Apallas for Respondent County of Napa.
Baker Botts LLP, Christopher J. Carr and Navtej S. Dhillon for Respondent and Real Parties in Interest Syar Industries Inc.
Stop Syar Expansion (SSE) has long opposed the expansion of Syar Industries, Inc.’s (Syar) aggregate operation. Syar filed an application for expansion in May 2008. After more than seven years of environmental review and numerous hearings, the County Planning Commission, in October 2015, certified the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and approved a modified project and a permit for an expansion half the size originally sought and subject to more than 100 pages of conditions and mitigation measures. SSE appealed both the EIR certification and the project and permit approvals to the County Board of Supervisions, asserting in the respective appeals that the EIR and the project and permit approvals were deficient in a multitude of respects. After nearly a year of additional environmental review and hearings, the Board, in a 109-page decision, rejected SSE's appeals, certified the EIR, and approved a further modified project and permit.
SSE filed the instant writ proceeding pursuant to Public Resources Code, section 21168,1 challenging the certification of the EIR. It ultimately winnowed down its claims with respect to the EIR to 16 asserted deficiencies. After briefing by the parties and a hearing, the trial court, in a 42-page ruling, denied the writ petition on a variety of grounds, reaching the merits as to some issues and concluding SSE failed to exhaust administrative remedies as to others.
SSE appeals and, at this juncture, contends the EIR is deficient in five respects. We affirm.
In South of Market Community Action Network v. City and County of San Francisco (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 321, 329–330, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174 ( South of Market ), we summarized the relevant CEQA principles and standard of review in a case like this one, where the petitioner's appeal "primarily challenges the content and analysis of the EIR." ( Id. at p. 329, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174.)
As we explained, the ( South of Market, supra, 33 Cal.App.5th at p. 329, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174.)
( South of Market, supra, 33 Cal.App.5th at p. 329, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174.)
’ ( South of Market, supra, 33 Cal.App.5th at pp. 329–330, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174.)
( South of Market, supra, 33 Cal.App.5th at p. 330, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174.)
( South of Market, supra, 33 Cal.App.5th at p. 330, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174.)
" ( South of Market, supra, 33 Cal.App.5th at pp. 330–331, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174, fn. omitted.)
‘ ( South of Market, supra, 33 Cal.App.5th at p. 331, 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 174.)
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