Citizens for Open Government v. City of Lodi

This opinion addresses three actions consolidated in the trial court under the California Environmental Quality Act. (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) The plaintiffs/petitioners are two citizens groups—Citizens for Open Government (Citizens) and Lodi First—that are challenging reapproval by defendant the City of Lodi (the city) of a conditional use permit for a proposed shopping center project (the project) to be developed by Browman Development Company, Inc. (Browman Company), after the original environmental impact report (EIR) for the project was revised and recertified. The project is anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter, slated to take the place of a smaller Wal-Mart across the street from the project.

The first action was the city’s application for discharge of the trial court’s December 2005 writ of mandate. The December 2005 writ issued because the original EIR was inadequate in its analysis of energy impacts and cumulative urban decay impacts. The revised EIR addressed those two areas and three others: the discussion of agricultural resources, the statement of project objectives, and the discussion of project alternatives. The city’s application for…