Save Our Bay, Inc. v. San Diego Unified Port District

In a mandate proceeding challenging the adequacy of an environmental impact report (EIR) for a project (see Pub. Resources Code, § 21168; Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5), is the landowner whose land must be acquired to complete the project an indispensable party where the only other parties are (1) the third party petitioner, the lead agency respondent which certified the adequacy of the EIR, and (2) the named real party in interest, the city in which the project is located?

On the bases the landowner was an indispensable party and the limitations period for bringing the landowner into the case had run (Pub. Resources Code, § 21167, subds. (b) and (c)), the trial court granted summary judgment for the lead agency, the San Diego Unified Port District (District), and against the petitioner, Save Our Bay, Inc.

Save Our Bay appeals, contending:

We conclude under the circumstances here, where the District is neither a developer nor (obviously) the landowner, it cannot be expected to represent the interests of landowner Chula Vista Capital, thus making Chula Vista Capital an indispensable party to the proceeding. There is no question that it is too late to file a proceeding…