Brentwood Assn. for No Drilling, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles

This is an appeal by the City of Los Angeles (hereinafter City) and Chevron U.S.A., Inc. (hereinafter Chevron) from the judgment of the Los Angeles Superior Court granting a petition for writ of mandamus and compelling the City to vacate its decision to issue, based solely on a negative declaration (Cal. Admin. Code, tit. 14, § 15083), a conditional use permit to Chevron allowing them to drill a single exploratory corehole and prohibiting the City to take any further action thereon until an environmental impact report is prepared. Brentwood Association for No Drilling, Inc. (hereinafter BRAND) cross-appeals from the order of the trial court denying its motion for attorneys’ fees sought pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5. We affirm the trial court in both orders being appealed.

Facts

A. The Application

On December 28, 1978, Chevron applied to the City for a conditional use permit to allow for the drilling of two exploratory core holes on the Riviera Country Club situated in Pacific Palisades. In it application Chevron stated that previous core holes drilled in the surrounding area by other oil companies, including Occidental Oil, revealed the presence of…