Photo Credit: Google Images
(SAN RAMON, CA.) – A long-stalled plan to redevelop the Marketplace shopping center appears to be moving forward after a major legal victory for the City of San Ramon, potentially ending a three-year long stalemate with local opponents.
On Apr. 23, judges for the First Appellate District Court in San Francisco upheld a previous ruling against the local opposition group Citizens Against Marketplace Apartment Development (CAMPAD). The decision effectively clears the legal hurdles blocking the project from breaking ground.
“We’re not deterred,” CAMPAD leader Susie Ferris-Inderkum wrote in an email to OpGov.News following the decision.
The legal battle began after the City of San Ramon Planning Commission approved a plan by property owners TRC Retail to demolish 55,000 square feet of retail space at the Marketplace. In its place, TRC plans to build 40 detached condos and four accessory dwelling units, while adding new driveways, crosswalks and sidewalks to improve access to the remaining commercial spaces.
Photo Credit: TRC Retail Website
CAMPAD filed two lawsuits in Contra Costa County Superior Court to stop the project, arguing that the residential focus violated mixed-use zoning, the city overstepped its authority regarding environment exemptions and the project required a more comprehensive master plan.
The appellate court dismissed all three arguments, and ruled that the development aligns with the city's general plan to convert shopping centers into housing and agreed the city properly exempted the project from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Photo Credit: First District Court of Appeal Live Webcast from Apr. 23 / Interaction between Associate Justice Gordon Burns (top) and City of San Ramon attorney Eric Phillips (bottom)
During oral arguments, City of San Ramon attorney Eric Phillips defended the city’s approval process and its reliance on expert data.
“The city did rely on expert analysis, its own in-house expert staff, and they relied on the county's transportation model to provide the foundation for its decision,” Phillips says.
However, Associate Justice Gordon Burns offered a sharp critique of the city’s data, “I will say the traffic analysis is pretty bare bones and barely sufficient; the city may look a little harder at these issues in the future,” Burns warned. “If there weren’t some factual analysis, you’d really be in trouble. Because you can’t just point to an expert and say ‘our expert looked at it, so it’s good.’ There has to be substantial evidence in the record that supports the city's use of the exemption.”
Phillips stumbled slightly in his response, noting that while CEQA exemptions are meant to streamline decisions, the court's points are “worth serious consideration and we’ll take that under advisement.”
Despite his pointed words in the courtroom, Burns did not include the commentary of the traffic analysis in the partially published formal opinion filed on Apr. 24.
Instead, the ruling focused on the legal merits and financial consequences for the neighborhood group. The court affirmed that CAMPAD is now responsible for reimbursing the city $38,568.62 in administrative record preparation costs, a slight reduction from the city’s original request of nearly $52,000.
The battle may not be entirely over, though. On May 11, CAMPAD attorney Ariel Strauss petitioned the Appellate Court for a rehearing, outlining four specific corrections requested of the court.
Inderkum told OpGov.News that CAMPAD is carefully reviewing its options and remains committed to its core mission.
“Our commitment to transparency and lawful planning hasn’t changed,” she says. “We won’t comment on litigation strategy, but we will continue insisting that San Ramon follow its adopted policies and provide the public with honest, consistent land-use decisions.”
TRC Retail Leasing and Property managers Julie Roper and Jackie Teixeira, as well as City of San Ramon attorney Eric Phillips, did not respond to multiple requests for comments.
To learn more about CAMPAD and their ongoing efforts, please visit them at: https://www.responsiblegrowthsanramon.com/
If you have any questions or comments, please email me at kathleen.p@lead4earth.org or comment below.
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