California Legislators Seek Specific CEQA Exemption

The long-awaited overhaul of the California Environmental Quality Act earlier this summer could be used to grant a notable exemption for one controversial project.

On Monday, California legislators introduced Senate Bill 158, a proposal with a uniquely specific carveout for changes that would otherwise cut back on environmental reviews for many developments, Cal Matters reported.

The bill calls for subjecting any project within a city of more than 85,000 but fewer than 95,000 residents and within a county of between 440,000 and 455,000 people, to California’s environmental review process. Only one place in the state, Santa Barbara, falls into that category, according to 2020 census data cited by Cal Matters.

The bill looks to hold back the proposed CEQA exemptions to any projects next to a wetland, a creek and a state-registered historical landmark. It also includes a carveout for projects larger than four acres and those that use builder’s remedy for development.

By process of elimination, those provisions seemingly describe just one project in Santa Barbara: A 270-unit, eight-story building proposed for construction behind the city’s historic Old Mission, according to Cal Matters.

The district is represented by Sen. Monique Limón, the incoming leader of the State Senate.

The planned development has sparked outrage among local residents and city officials, with Mayor Randy Rowse decrying it as a “horrendous nightmare.”

Mission LLC, the developers behind the project, have repeatedly sued the city of Santa Barbara claiming the local government has illegally delayed the project and denied awarding a religious-based property tax exemption.

Limón has denied that she is out to prevent Mission LLC’s project with her proposed legislation.

Opponents of the project have flagged the danger of wildfires and flooding risk in the site north of downtown Santa Barbara. The city, in response, said that the new CEQA exemption legislation, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July, doesn’t apply to the project based on its interpretation of the law. SB 158 reaffirms that position.

The 11th-hour exemption is one part of a broader budget trailer bill, meant to direct state agencies on how to distribute the annual budget but often become political lightning rods as a means of trying to effect policy changes. Budget bills, unlike other legislation in the body, are written by the entire budget committee rather than individual legislators.

— Chris Malone Méndez