Banning Ranch Conservancy, Plaintiff and Appellant v. City of Newport Beach, Defendants and Appellants…

Summary

The court held that the City's environmental impact report was inadequate because it failed to identify potential environmentally sensitive habitat areas and analyze the project's effects, alternatives, and mitigation measures in light of the Coastal Act. The City could not defer that analysis to the later coastal-development-permit process or avoid it on the ground that the Coastal Commission would make the ultimate legal determinations. The court reversed and remanded for further proceedings, without reaching the general-plan issue.