Del Cerro Mobile Estates v. City of Placentia

Del Cerro Mobile Estates (Del Cerro) appeals from a judgment of dismissal after the trial court sustained a demurrer filed by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and the City of Placentia and its city council (the City) to Del Cerro’s first amended complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief and petition for writ of mandate. Del Cerro challenged the adequacy, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (see Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.), 1 of the City’s environmental impact report (EIR) concerning a planned railroad grade separation project. These projects “eliminate vehicle-rail conflicts” (Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (2002) 103 Cal.App.4th 268, 272 [ 126 Cal.Rptr.2d 615 ]) and include “the grade separation and other structures that actually separate the vehicular roadway from the railroad tracks,” plus “all approaches, ramps, connections, drainage, and other construction required to make the grade separation operable and to effect the separation of grades” (Sts. & Hy. Code, § 2450, subd. (b)). OCTA had intervened in the *177 lawsuit to point out that grade separation projects that eliminate railway…