Leavitt

The plaintiffs filed a petition for writ of mandamus against the County of Madera, challenging its approval of a plan for a large residential development project and its certification of the final environmental impact report (EIR) for that project. The plaintiffs claim the approval and certification violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The defendant and the real parties in interest moved to dismiss the petition on the grounds that the plaintiffs (1) failed to request a hearing as required by section 21167.4 and (2) prejudicially delayed in preparing the administrative record of proceedings in accordance with section 21167.6. The superior court granted the motion and refused to grant the plaintiffs relief from the dismissal under the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 473, subdivision (b).

The plaintiffs claim the superior court committed reversible error in dismissing their petition and refusing to grant relief from the dismissal. We hold that (1) a request for hearing under section 21167.4, as amended in 1994, need not set a hearing date; and (2) the superior court abused its discretion by dismissing the petition because of the…