EDC loses lawsuit regarding apartment project

El Dorado County lost a court decision this month involving the El Dorado Hills Town Center Apartments project.

The Board of Supervisors approved the project on Dec. 2, 2014.

Citizens for Sensible Development in El Dorado Hills filed a lawsuit saying the supervisors abused their discretionary authority when it ignored the El Dorado Hills Specific Plan, the El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee, and the El Dorado County Planning Commission, in addition to violating the county’s general plan, density limits, design standards, and the requirement to mitigate impacts to infrastructure in approving the Town Center Apartments project.

“Legal mulling will need to occur in the near future,” Robyn Drivon, El Dorado County’s chief attorney, told Lake Tahoe News. She likely won’t be doing the mulling since she is living the job early next month.

The Dec. 18 court ruling in part says, “The court finds that the project at issue is a new project, not a modified one and that substantial evidence exists to support a fair argument of significant traffic environmental impacts due to the project, despite existing or planned mitigation. The court also finds that in approving the project, respondent has not proceeded as required by law under CEQA.”

— Lake Tahoe News staff report