Roberson

I. INTRODUCTION

On July 15, 2008, defendant and respondent, City of Rialto (the City), through its

city council, adopted several “project approvals,” clearing the way for the construction of

a large commercial retail center in the City, to be anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter

(the project). Plaintiff and appellant, Marcus L. Roberson, petitioned the trial court for a

writ of administrative mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) invalidating and setting aside

the project approvals, namely, a resolution certifying an environmental impact report for

the project, resolutions approving general and specific plan amendments for the project

site, and an ordinance approving a development agreement for the project.

In his trial brief, Roberson claimed the project approvals were invalid only

because the notice of the initial, July 1, 2008, public hearing before the city council on

the project approvals did not indicate that the planning commission had recommended the

city council adopt the project approvals. (Gov. Code, §§ 65090, 65094;1 Environmental

Defense Project of Sierra County v. County of Sierra (2008) 158 Cal.App.4th 877, 890-

893 (Environmental Defense Project) [notice…