Banning Ranch decision favorable to citizens

Post date: May 15, 2017 5:20:15 AM

Dear Shingle Springs residents and rural lifestyle supporters,

Rural Communities United (RCU) is the grassroots group in El Dorado County that is working to restore the voter-approved General Plan. RCU filed a lawsuit against El Dorado County when the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to alter the General Plan in such a way as to increase development beyond the voter-approved plan.

The email post below from RCU explains the significance of the recent Banning Ranch Conservancy (BRC) ruling by the California Supreme Court. The ruling emphasizes the responsibility of elected officials to conduct proper environmental review.

The BRC ruling reinforces the validity of the issues we have with our own county and sets a precedent to improve the environmental review process for projects like San Stino's Mill Creek development.

Please forward this information to neighbors, friends, and family.

Thank you!

********* Forwarded message from RCU:

CA Supreme Court Decision Favorable to Citizens and Environmental Law

On March 20, 2017, the Banning Ranch Conservancy (BRC) announced a win for citizens throughout California who are fighting to get their elected officials to abide by environmental law. The Supreme Court of California published its ruling in the BRC case, making it clear that the environmental review process is more than just a checkbox to mark to approve a project.

Rural Communities United (RCU) attorney Tom Infusino shared the outcome of this case and its importance with the El Dorado County Planning Commissioners and Board of Supervisors, in a letter dated April 26, 2017. As the decision makers for development in El Dorado County, Commissioners and Supervisors need to understand the impact of this recent court ruling. The court ruling dictates that decision makers have a duty to determine if meaningful environmental review of projects has actually occurred, prior to making any land use decision. It is not ‘ok’ to disregard public comments that question development impacts: full disclosure and fully reasoned analysis must be in evidence, or their decisions will be overturned.

“The preparation and circulation of an EIR [Environmental Impact Report] is more than a set of technical hurdles for agencies and developers to overcome. The EIR’s function is to ensure that government officials who decide to build or approve a project do so with a full understanding of the environmental consequences and, equally important, that the public is assured those consequences have been taken into account.”

Read the full post with links to documents here:

https://ruralcommunitiesunited.org/2017/05/04/ca-supreme-court-decision-favorable-to-citizens/