The CEQA questions, both procedural and substantive, were thick and juicy during a hearing Tuesday, May 15, on the Yuba Highlands project east of Marysville. Located on about 2,900 acres of unincorporated Yuba County between Beale Air Force Base and Spenceville State Wildlife Area, Yuba Highlands is proposed to have about 5,100 housing units and 85 acres of commercial development.
Among the questions that arose were these:
• May a Planning Commission, which does not have ultimate authority over the project, certify the environmental impact report? The county and developer say yes, opponents no. The County cast Tuesday's hearing before the Board of Supervisors as an appeal based on the record in front of the Planning Commission.
• How firmly must an EIR identify water for a development? The county and developer say adequate groundwater is available both physically and legally. Opponents disagree, as does the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. Yuba County supervisors appeared perplexed, and several times they fell back on the if-there's-no-water-they-can't-build line of reasoning. The state Supreme Court recently set a very high bar for water studies in Vineyard Area Citizens for Responsible Growth, Inc. v. City of Rancho Cordova.
• What happens when local practice requires a four-fifths vote to adopt a statement of overriding considerations — and there are only three votes for approval? When an impact from a project remains significant and unavoidable, the project may go forward under CEQA only if the local agency adopts a statement of overriding considerations that says the benefits outweigh the impact. In the past, Yuba County has required a four-fifths vote in such cases, although the requirement's basis was unclear Tuesday night. This could be pivotal because only three of five supervisors voted for a "motion of intent" to deny the project opponent's appeal of the EIR.
• How objective must an elected official be when considering an EIR? Board of Supervisors Chairman Hal Stocker has been an outspoken project opponent, and the developer's attorney, Douglas Kirkman, argued that Stocker must recuse himself. Stocker didn't budge and toward the end of the hearing said the EIR "has more holes than Swiss cheese."
The Yuba Highlands EIR will return in coming weeks to the Board of Supervisors, which is scheduled to consider the project's area plan and development agreement in June.
"Why," asked Supervisor Don Schrader, "do I have the feeling this is going to end up before a person with a black robe?"
- Paul Shigley
