County of Colusa v. California Wildlife Conservation Board

Good Law

145 Cal. App. 4th 637·2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 1921·2006 Daily Journal DAR 15912·52 Cal. Rptr. 3d 1·36 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20240

Court of Appeal of CaliforniaOctober 19, 2006C051270California8,093 words

Opinion

Cantil-Sakauye, J.

The California Department of Fish and Game (DEG) through the California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) (together, the State Agencies) proposes to convert an area of agricultural land in Colusa County into wildlife habitat. The State Agencies’ actions relating to this project were challenged in court as violating the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.), the Williamson Act (Gov. Code, § 51200 et seq.), and Colusa County’s general plan and zoning ordinances. In this appeal we consider the State Agencies’ appeal from a judgment for attorney fees in favor of Colusa County (County) pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 on the County’s Williamson Act claims. We shall affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Leroy Traynham (Traynham) is the owner of 235 acres of farmland (the property) located in Colusa County. The property is located in the “Agriculture-General” land use designation of the County’s general plan and is zoned “Exclusive Agriculture.” In 2000 Traynham and the County entered into a Williamson Act contract limiting use of the property to agriculture and compatible uses. (§ 51200 et seq.) A…

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