Friends of Riverside's Hills v. City of Riverside

Appellant Friends of Riverside’s Hills (Friends) appeals from the superior court judgment dismissing its petition for writ of mandate (petition). In its petition, Friends challenged the City of Riverside’s (City) decision to approve three tract maps within the Rancho La Sierra Specific Plan (Specific Plan) area of Riverside, without requiring the applicant to comply with all conditions of approval and mitigation measures contained in the Specific Plan. The court dismissed the petition because Friends did not comply with the requirement of Government Code section 66499.37 that any action to attack or review, etc., the decision of a public body “concerning a subdivision” under the Subdivision Map Act (§ 66410 et seq.) (SMÁ) include service of a summons within 90 days after the date of the challenged decision. In this appeal, Friends challenges only the dismissal of the CEQA cause of action regarding the mitigation measures. At issue here is (1) whether the section 66499.37 service of summons requirement applies to a petition for writ of mandate alleging a CEQA cause of action, where the petitioner challenges the decision of a public body “concerning a subdivision” under the…