ELR Citation: ELR 20019
No(s). C057083 (Cal. App. 3d Dist. Jan 28, 2009)

A California appellate court reversed a lower court's summary judgment that a county's approval of a congregate care construction project did not violate the California Environmental Quality Act or its general land use plan. The county enacted a program that requires developers in a defined geographic area to pay a rare plant impact fee. Under the program, the money collected, along with money from other sources, would be used to create professionally managed rare plant habitats. Here, the county determined that because the developer of the project paid the fee, it was entitled to a mitigated negative declaration (MND) as to plants and did not need to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR). The impact fee, however, does not eliminate the need to evaluate and address the impacts of a particular project on plants within that area. Moreover, there is substantial evidence in the record to raise a fair argument that the project may have significant environmental impacts on one or more endangered plant species. Accordingly, the county should not have certified the MND, and an EIR was required for the project.