Arviv Enterprises, Inc. v. South Valley Area Planning Commission

In a series of permit applications and overlapping reviews over a short period of time, a housing developer managed to secure among other things (1) a series of permits to build five houses downslope from Mulholland Drive; (2) a categorical environmental exemption to build two additional houses across the street; (3) a mitigated negative declaration to build 14 additional houses on an adjacent street; and (4) a variance for one of the five houses built over height. Prompted by nearby residents’ and homeowner associations’ complaints, the City of Los Angeles came to realize the cumulative effects from what was in reality a development project for 21 hillside houses required an environmental review of the project as a whole. It thus imposed a building hiatus for six months, or until an environmental impact report (EIR) was completed and certified. The developer sought an administrative writ of mandate to challenge the City’s requirement for an EIR covering all 21 proposed houses, which included those already constructed, although the specific appeal then before the commission technically concerned only two of the proposed houses. The trial court denied the developer’s…