Berkeley Hills Watershed Coal. v. City of Berkeley

*885 Defendant City of Berkeley (City) approved the construction of three new single-family homes on adjacent parcels in the Berkeley Hills. Plaintiffs filed a petition for writ of mandate in the superior court opposing the approval because (1) the proposed construction was subject to the "location" exception to the Class 3 exemption for "up to three single-family residences" in urbanized areas under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, 1 § 21000 et seq.) and (2) the City failed to comply with several provisions of its zoning ordinance in approving the project. The trial court denied the petition for writ of mandate. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Real parties in interest, Matthew Wadlund (Wadlund), Alexandra Destler Wadlund, Eric S. Schmier, individually and as the trustee of the Eric S. Schmier 2010 Living Trust, and Kenneth J. Schmier, individually and as the trustee of the Kenneth J. Schmier 2010 Separate Property Trust, are owners of three contiguous parcels *240 of land on Shasta Road in Berkeley, California. In *886 January 2016, Wadlund submitted separate applications for use permits to construct three new single-family homes on the parcels. The…