GROSSMONT-CUYAMACA

Defendant Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District (the District) prepared a master plan approving 20 construction and remodel projects (hereafter the project) at its Cuyamaca College campus in the unincorporated community of Rancho San Diego that will accommodate á substantial growth in student population and result in significant impacts to off-campus traffic. Acting pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CEQA Guidelines, the District prepared and certified the adequacy of the final environmental impact report (final EIR) for the project, adopted a statement of overriding considerations with CEQA findings, and approved the master plan, asserting that it is legally and economically infeasible for the District to pay for any off-campus road improvements to mitigate the off-campus traffic impacts and that the unavoidable adverse environmental effects of the project are acceptable because the project’s benefits outweigh those effects.

The County of San Diego (the County) filed a petition for writ of mandate to challenge the District’s decisions to certify the final EIR, adopt the CEQA findings and statement of overriding considerations and…