Torres

INTRODUCTION

This is an appeal from an April 20, 2021 judgment of the Tulare County Superior Court entered in favor of defendants/respondents City of Visalia, City Council for the City of Visalia, Curtis Cannon in his official capacity as Community Development Director, and Paul Bernal in his official capacity as City Planner (City).1 City permitted real parties in interest/respondents J Beast, LP, and JBB Development, Inc. (Developer)2 to build warehouses on real property bordered by Plaza Drive on the west and Riggin Avenue on the north. In an amended writ petition filed on November 24, 2020, plaintiffs/appellants Eddie Armando Torres and Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local Union 294 (collectively, appellants) alleged that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code,3 § 21000 et seq.) required City to conduct environmental review because it had performed a discretionary action in connection with Developer’s project, i.e., City had adopted a resolution that vacated its access rights along Plaza Drive and Riggin Avenue. On March 22, 2021, the superior court denied the petition on the grounds that (1) City’s adoption of the aforementioned…