RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

February 2005

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Fifth District Court Finds EIRs Prepared for Two Projects Containing Wal-Mart as Anchor Tenant Inadequate under CEQA.
Bakersfield Citizens for Local Control v. City of Bakersfield,

In consolidated appeals, the Fifth District Court of Appeal invalidated two environmental impact reports (EIRs) prepared under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for separate retail shopping centers located within 3.6 miles of one another and each containing a “Wal-Mart Supercenter”; the EIRs failed to consider the potential for each project to indirectly cause urban decay by precipitating store closures and long-term vacancies in existing shopping centers. The court also invalidated the EIRs for failing to acknowledge the potential human health effects from air quality impacts caused by the project. The court remanded the case to the trial court and required the City of Bakersfield to decertify the EIRs and void its approval of the projects pending compliance with CEQA.