Court Overturns Sprawl Development in Wildfire Risk Zone
The firm successfully challenges San Diego County’s 2019 approval of the Harmony Grove Village South Project, which would have brought sprawl development to a fire-prone, rural area of the County.
Warehouse Approval in Residential Neighborhood Rescinded
After the firm files a CEQA lawsuit challenging the City of Fresno’s approval of a large warehouse distribution center across the street from a residential community, the City rescinds the approval in 2019. (Southern Central Neighbors United v. City of Fresno.)
A Win for Public Health: Oil Wells Stalled in Arvin
Together with the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, the firm represents the Committee for a Better Arvin in a successful challenge to the City of Arvin’s approval of oil wells that would have threatened public health in a residential neighborhood. (Committee for a Better Arvin v. City of Arvin (2019).)
Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger Announces New Partners Sara Clark and Sarah Sigman
San Francisco – Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP is proud to announce the addition of two new partners, Sara A. Clark and Sarah H. Sigman. Both attorneys were associates of the firm before joining the partnership. “We are excited to have Sara Clark and Sarah Sigman join our team of partners,” said Richard S. Taylor, […]
No Vested Right to Quarry Expansion
The firm succeeds in the court of appeal in a case challenging Mendocino County’s approval of a large expansion of a quarry. (Keep the Code v. Mendocino County (2018).) The court agreed with the firm’s position that quarry activities occurring almost 50 years earlier did not establish a vested right to expand the mine.
SMW Defeats New Railyard Next to Disadvantaged Long Beach Community
The City of Long Beach, represented by the firm and joined by five other petitioner groups and the Attorney General, prevails in a CEQA challenge to the controversial “SCIG” railyard, whose air pollution threatened the health of nearby residents and schoolchildren. The court of appeal orders the approval rescinded. (City of Long Beach v. City […]
Halting Sprawl on the Suburban Fringe
The firm’s lawsuit stops the City of Highland’s Harmony Specific Plan, which would have scattered development across a floodplain and required a bridge over — and in — a sensitive creek at the edge of the San Bernardino Mountains. (Greenspot Residents Association v. City of Highland (2018).)
Stopping A Fire Trap at the Wildland-Urban Interface
Pressing claims under CEQA and the city’s own Code, the firm obtains an appellate victory in its challenge to the City of Brea’s approval of a residential subdivision in a fire-prone canyon abutting Chino Hills State Park. (Hills For Everyone v. OSLIC Holdings LLC (2017).)
San Onofre State Beach Permanently Saved From Toll Road
After years of challenging the 16-mile Foothill-South Toll Road in court and administrative proceedings, including the largest public hearing in the Coastal Commission’s history, the firm helps a dozen environmental groups negotiate a settlement that permanently protects San Onofre State Beach and adjoining open space. (Calif. State Parks Fdn. v. Transportation Corridor Agency, 150 Cal.App.4th […]
California Supreme Court Victory
The firm wins a landmark case before the California Supreme Court holding that the North Coast Rail Authority must comply with CEQA when reopening tracks running from Novato to Humboldt County. Subsequently, the state passes legislation to convert the rail line to the Great Redwood Trail. (Friends of the Eel River v. NCRA, 3 Cal.5th […]