Merced County Farm Bureau lawsuit against County and RMP

On January 18, the Merced County Farm Bureau filed a petition in Merced County Superior Court against the County of Merced and Riverside Motorsports Park. The petition asks the court to set aside the county Board of Supervisors decision to approve the race track, suspend all activity approved under the first environmental impact report while actions are taken to bring the final programmatic EIR into compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, and prepare, circulate and consider a new EIR.

The Farm Bureau alleges two causes of action: violation of CEQA, and violation of the Planning and Zoning Law.

The petition alleges that the board of supervisors’ approval constitutes a prejudicial abuse of discretion, their proceedings were unlawful and their decision was not supported by the facts because:

· The final EIR did not adequately describe and evaluate the significant impacts of the RMP project on agricultural resources;

· The final EIR failed to adequately describe and evaluate potential secondary impacts and cumulative impacts of the conversion of agricultural and water resources resulting from the project;

· The final EIR failed to adequately describe and evaluate potential impacts on adjacent and nearby landowners;

· The final EIR failed to consider a reasonable range of alternatives;

· The county failed to adopt a feasible alternative that would avoid or reduce potentially adverse significant impacts on agricultural resources and related land uses;

· The final EIR failed to describe and sufficiently evaluate reasonable mitigation measures for the impacts of the project, including loss of farmland;

· The county failed to adopt mitigation measures that would eliminate or substantially lessen potential significant impacts to the environment and agricultural resources and related land uses;

· The final EIR fails to be consistent with the county General Plan;

· The county failed to adopt legally adequate findings “in that there are clearly significant impacts to agricultural resources that are mitigable or avoidable."

In the second cause of action, the Farm Bureau alleges that Merced County adopted a valid General Plan that clearly expresses the intent to preserve agricultural resources, minimize conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses, and limit the impact “urban activities may have on agriculture.” The Farm Bureau argues that because the county did not change its General Plan while approving the RMP project, it acted arbitrarily and capriciously when approving the General Plan amendment and Zone Change amendment necessary to approve the RMP project.

The petition, therefore, alleges that the supervisors prejudicially abused their discretion and acted arbitrarily and capriciously in approving the RMP project.

The Merced County Farm Bureau is represented by Brenda Washington Davis and Ronda Azevedo Lucas, attorneys with the California Farm Bureau Federation in Sacramento.