First District Denies Challenge to Napa County Approval of Mining Operations Because Petitioner Failed to Exhaust Administrative Remedies and CEQA Requires Limited Review of General Plan Consistency | Downey Brand LLP jdsupra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jdsupra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A procession was held for the World War II veteran outside the memory care facility Friday, with cars, gifts, music and most of Theodore Mertz's family present.
When a large project is proposed, such as Syar Industries expansion of its aggregate operations in Napa County, the California Environmental Quality Act specifies what must be included in the environmental impact report (EIR) analyzing the project and its impacts. It is not uncommon for a large project to be challenged in court claiming the project EIR is legally inadequate. See Stop Syar Expansion v. County of Napa, our case for today’s column.
SEVEN YEARS OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
A group known as Stop Syar Expansion had long opposed the expansion of Syar Industries aggregate operations in Napa County. After more than seven years of environmental review and numerous hearings, the county planning commission certified the final EIR and approved a much smaller project than originally sought. The approval included more than a hundred pages of conditions and mitigation measures. Stop Syar appealed the EIR and the project and the matter proceeded before the county board of supervis
Stop Syar Expansion has the choice of appealing to the California Supreme Court.
âWeâre still considering our options,â Kathy Felch, a member of Stop Syar Expansion who lives less than a mile from the quarry, said on Tuesday. âWeâll probably make a decision in the next week or so.â
Barring further appeals, Syar can expand its 497-acre quarry mining area in the hills near Napa State Hospital by 106 acres to remove basalt and other rocks. It can increase production from a million tons of rock annually to 1.3 million tons annually.
Syar officials have said a bigger quarry is needed to keep providing basalt for the regionâs roads and other construction projects. Without the expansion, the quarry will run out of basalt to mine.