Save San Francisco Bay Ass'n v. San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission

In these consolidated appeals we review the administrative approval of the construction of an aquarium known as Underwater World at Pier 39 in the Fisherman’s Wharf area of San Francisco. After the City and County of San Francisco (City) and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) issued the necessary authorizations permitting construction of the aquarium project, several citizen action groups sought to overturn its approval by petitioning for writs of mandate alleging the City and BCDC failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) and the McAteer-Petris Act (MPA; Gov. Code, § 66600 et seq.). The trial court denied the petitions. We affirm the trial court’s conclusion that the City and BCDC fulfilled their statutory responsibilities and that their factual determinations were supported by substantial evidence.

I. Project Description

The aquarium project, as approved by the City and BCDC, is the construction of an approximately 37,000-square-foot aquarium on existing and new pilings in San Francisco Bay at Pier 39. Pier 39 is an existing commercial recreation complex composed of…