People v. Department of Housing & Community Development

This is a mandate action in which the People, represented by the District Attorney of Nevada County, are the petitioner. Petitioner seeks a writ compelling the state Department of Housing and Community Development and its director to rescind a permit for the construction of a mobilehome park in Nevada City. Holder of the construction permit is Roy Ramey, who appears here as real party in interest. Petitioner alleges that the permit is invalid because issued without an environmental impact report (EIR) or negative declaration under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Recent decisions have described the operation of CEQA (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) in some detail and we shall not repeat these descriptions. (See Bozung v. Local Agency Formation Com. 13 Cal.3d 263 [ 118 Cal.Rptr. 249 , 529 P.2d 1017 ]; No Oil, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (1974) 13 Cal.3d 68 [ 118 Cal.Rptr. 34 , 529 P.2d 66 ]; Friends of Mammoth v. Board of Supervisors (1972) 8 Cal.3d 247 [ 104 Cal.Rptr. 761 , 502 P.2d 1049 ].) This lawsuit involves not only CEQA but also the Mobilehome Parks Act (Health & Saf. Code, § 18200 et seq.). That act establishes a system of construction…