San Franciscans for Reasonable Growth v. City & County of San Francisco

I. Statement of the Case

Plaintiff, San Franciscans for Reasonable Growth (SFRG), appeals from judgments denying its four petitions for writs of mandate compelling defendant, San Francisco Planning Commission (Commission), to set aside resolutions that certified four Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) and to void the permits that allowed the Real Parties in Interest (RPIs) to begin construction on the projects evaluated in the EIRs. The basis for SRFG’s writ petitions was that, through its agencies, defendant City and County of San Francisco (City) had violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.), and the California Guidelines (Guidelines) implementing CEQA (Cal. Admin. Code, tit. 14, § 15000 et seq.).

II. History

Prior to 1981, the RPIs submitted proposals to the office of environmental review (OER) in the City’s department of city planning (Department) for the construction of high-rise office buildings in the City’s downtown area. The OER reviewed the proposals and determined that each project required an EIR. (Guidelines, §§ 15081, 15082, 15084.) Writing the EIRs was the Commission’s responsibility, and, between…