Sierra Club v. County of Fresno

INTRODUCTION

In February 2011, the County of Fresno (County) approved the Friant Ranch project, a proposed master-planned community for persons age 55 or older located in north-central Fresno County (the Project). The Project is located on 942 acres of unirrigated grazing land adjacent to the unincorporated community of Friant, below Friant Dam and Millerton Lake, near the San Joaquin River. This appeal argues that (1) the Project was inconsistent with land use and traffic policies in County’s general plan and (2) the environmental impact report (EIR) for the Project failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).1 The CEQA claims challenge the adequacy of the EIR’s discussion of certain issues involving (1) treated effluent from the proposed wastewater treatment facilities and (2) air quality impacts. As to the claims of general plan inconsistency, we conclude that the Project is not inconsistent with the land use element, since the agricultural use designation was properly changed by amendment, thereby avoiding an inconsistency, and the issues regarding traffic policy TR-A.2 were not exhausted during the administrative process. We conclude the CEQA claims…