Sunset Sky Ranch Pilots Assn. v. County of Sacramento

The County of Sacramento declined to renew a conditional use permit for a privately owned airport. A mandamus petition seeking to prevent the airport’s closure was denied. The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the county’s action amounted to a “project” subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.; CEQA).

The Court of Appeal erred because it misconstrued the nature of the project at issue. Declining to renew the conditional use permit was not a public project under CEQA, because the county did not “directly undertaken” to close the airport. (§ 21065, subd. (a).) Instead, it decided not to reauthorize a private activity that required “the issuance . . . of a . . . permit.” (§ 21065, subd. (c).) The airport operation was the “project” in question, and projects rejected by a public agency are specifically exempted from CEQA requirements. (§ 21080, subd. (b)(5).)

I. BACKGROUND

This litigation pits the owner and users of the Sunset Sky Ranch Airport against nearby property owners and Sacramento County. Appellants are Daniel Lang, the airport owner, and the Sunset Sky Ranch Pilots Association…