On March 22, 2023, the California Supreme Court granted the City of San Francisco’s stand-alone depublication request in (and declined to review on its own motion) the First District Court of Appeal’s (Div. 4) decision in Saint Ignatius Neighborhood Association v. City and County of San Francisco. The depublished opinion reversed a trial court decision that upheld the City’s use of CEQA Guidelines Class 1 (existing facilities) and 3 (small structures) categorical exemptions for a high school athletic stadium project involving the installation of four 90-foot tall light standards to significantly expand nighttime stadium use. Officially, the Supreme Court’s depublication order is not to be construed as expressing any opinion on the merits, and the Court of Appeal’s decision remains fully binding on the parties but cannot be cited as precedent. My 12/7/22 post on the case can be found here.
In other developments, the Second District Court of Appeal made a minor modification to its published opinion in Pacific Palisades Residents Association, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles, my 3/21/23 post on which can be found here, by replacing “claim of exemption” with “applicable action on a coastal development permit or a claim of exemption” at page 11, line 2, of its slip opinion; there was no change in the judgment.
