Friends of Highland Park v. City of Los Angeles

In an unpublished opinion, the California Court of Appeal reversed a trial court decision that upheld a negative declaration prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the Highland Park Transit Village Project in Los Angeles, a residential development composed of 20 condominiums and a 50-unit building for affordable housing. The appellate court found that the initial study prepared by the City of Los Angeles was inadequate because its discussion of greenhouse gas emissions did not comply with CEQA guidelines. The appellate court said that the study made no attempt to quantify greenhouse gas emissions, did not include qualitative analysis or performance-based standards, and did not support the effectiveness of a mitigation measure that required used of construction materials that contained no, or low levels of, volatile organic compounds.