In the unpublished Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Town Council v. County of San Diego (Oct. 14, 2021, Nos. D077611, D078101) [2021 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 6474], the Fourth District Court of Appeal found that the County of San Diego’s (County) approval of the Harmony Grove Village project’s (Project) environmental impact report (EIR) did not employ adequate greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures and was inconsistent with the affordable housing component of the General Plan. However, the Court upheld the EIR’s wildfire and air quality analyses, as well as the County’s determination that the Project was consistent with a Community Plan’s sewage treatment requirement.
The Project involved development of 453 residences on 111 acres of undeveloped, rural land next to the existing Harmony Grove Village and within the Elfin Forest and Harmony Grove Planning Area of the San Dieguito Community Planning Area. Following EIR certification and Project approval, Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Town Council and environmental groups (collectively, Petitioners) filed suit, arguing that the approval violated state and local laws. The trial court found that the EIR relied on unsupported carbon-offset GHG mitigation measures, failed to address fire safety issues, and failed to include adequate analyses regarding air quality impacts related to consistency with air quality standards and the regional plan Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). The trial court also found the Project to be inconsistent with the affordable housing requirement of the County’s General Plan, and with a Community Plan’s septic system policy. Project proponent and real party in interest, RCS-Harmony Partners, LLC (RCS-Harmony), appealed. After the trial court ruled in the present case, the Fourth District published its opinion in Golden Door Properties, LLC v. County of San Diego (2020) 50 Cal.App.5th 467 (Golden Door). In Golden Door, the Court of Appeal upheld a trial court ruling invalidating carbon-offset GHG mitigation measures that the appellant county had adopted under their Climate Action Plan EIR.
GHG Mitigation
On appeal, RCS-Harmony argued the Project’s carbon-offset GHG mitigation measures complied with the requirements set forth in Golden Door. Golden Door observed that the value of any offset depends on whether emission reduction had actually occurred – a critical concern because GHG offsets are invisible and predicated on GHGs not being released. Further, Golden Door held that CEQA requires GHG mitigation through offsets to have formalized procedures in place that ensure that credits represent...
