Orinda Assn. v. Board of Supervisors

This appeal is from a judgment in an action consolidating petitions for writ of mandate brought by appellants Friends of the Orinda Theatre (Friends), Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA), and the Orinda Association (the Association) to challenge various aspects of a proposed mixed-use office/commercial/retail development complex known as “the Crossroads,” to be built in the downtown area of Orinda adjacent to the Highway 24 freeway.

The Association charges that the responsible county governmental and administrative agencies approved the Crossroads Project (the Project) and granted zoning variances therefor in violation of applicable local land-use regulations. Friends and BAHA focus on the Project’s destruction of the Orinda Theatre and the adjoining Bank Building, designed by the same architect in the “Art Deco” style; they challenge the County’s compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.), the certification of the final project EIR by the Board, and the county building inspection department’s issuance of an unqualified permit for demolition of the subject buildings.

I

The Association filed its…