UPDATE | A lawsuit demanding an injunction against The Riverwalk residential development project has been dismissed by Judge Richard L. Fruin, Jr. of the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County, the Long Beach City Attorney’s Office announced today.
According to the ruling, forwarded by the office, the lawsuit was dismissed because it was not filed in a timely manner (filed after the December 14 legal deadline), and the city had cooperated fully with the Petitioner, answering all necessary questions.
“No estoppel arises, as the information provided by the City employees responded accurately to the questions put to them and, therefore, was not the cause of Petitioner’s failure to act in a timely manner,” the ruling states. “The court rejects Petitioner’s estoppel argument as a basis to avoid the Legislative deadlines for the filing of a CEQA challenge.”
The lawsuit had demanded an injunction against all project approvals and actions related to The Riverwalk residential development project passed by the Long Beach City Council in November in its December filing. The suit alleged the environmental impact report (EIR) for the project was insufficient and did not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
PREVIOUSLY: Lawsuit Seeking Riverwalk Project Injunction Filed Against City of Long Beach
12/25/2015 at 2:32PM | A lawsuit demanding an injunction against all project approvals and actions related to The Riverwalk residential development project passed by the Long Beach City Council last month was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last week, alleging that the environmental impact report (EIR) was insufficient and does not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The suit was filed by Channel Law Group. LLC on behalf of Citizens About Responsible Planning (CARP) against the City of Long Beach and the project’s planners. The suit alleges that in approving the project the city wrongfully concluded that it would have no significant effect on the environment.
“The group of outraged citizens are claiming the project will have substantial adverse impact on the environment and has procedural deficiencies,” a release about the filing read.
The group is challenging the development of a 131 unit residential project that would include four and five bedroom single family homes on the 10.56 acres of vacant land where the former Will Reid Boy Scout Camp was located. The project site borders the Union Pacific Railway, the Los Angeles River and a neighborhood that borders Del Amo and Long Beach Boulevards.
In a letter to the city clerk, Jamie T. Hall—an attorney representing CARP—said that the city erroneously concluded that the project was CEQA compliant. Included in the document filed at Stanley Mosk Courthouse December 18 are detailed allegations of failures to adequately analyze or mitigate traffic impacts and related air pollution resulting from a faulty parking analysis, failure to identify resulting strains placed on wastewater transport and treatment facilities by the additional residential units and failures to identify impacts on biological resources, among other complaints.
The suit also alleges that there was a failure to recirculate the EIR after “significant new information” was added as required by CEQA which deprived the community of any meaningful opportunity to review and comment on the project.
The project was approved by the council in November after it received a petition with over 200 signatures denouncing the plans. The complaints were based on a belief that the project would produce ‘unacceptable” levels of noise, traffic and emissions in the area.