Rancho Cordova/Tsakopoulos lose vernal pool case
7-7-07
Sacramento Bee
Rancho Cordova stymied
Worried about vernal pools, judge overturns OK of the Preserve housing project.
By Mary Lynne Vellinga
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/260784.html
A Sacramento judge Friday overturned Rancho Cordova's approval of a proposed development that has put the city at odds with federal environmental agencies.
Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette ruled that the city did not adequately spell out how it would mitigate the loss of vernal pools in the Preserve, a development of 2,700 homes planned for the middle of the Sunrise Douglas Community Plan.
The Rancho Cordova City Council adopted the plan for the Preserve in 2006, but construction remains on hold as the city spars with federal regulators over protection of vernal pools.
The California Native Plant Society sued in September. The group contends that the Preserve -- as designed -- would have a devastating effect on some of the finest vernal pool habitat in the Sacramento region.
Carol Witham, a local leader of the society, called Friday's ruling "a win for what the California Native Plant Society regards as the Yosemite of vernal pools."
Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that fill in winter, flower in spring and host a variety of endangered plants and animals, including tiny shrimp and plants such as the slender orcutt grass, which in the Sacramento area occurs only in the Sunrise Douglas area, Witham said.
In his ruling, Marlette found that Rancho Cordova had improperly "deferred" the issue of habitat mitigation on the 530-acre Preserve property.
Rancho Cordova's general plan contains a "no net loss" of wetlands policy, yet the plan for the Preserve failed to specify where the proposed off-site mitigation land proposed for the development would be.
Marlette also found that the city also failed to disclose potential impacts of groundwater pumping on fish in the Cosumnes River.
The judge stressed Friday that he was not taking sides in the ongoing fight between Rancho Cordova and federal environmental regulators, who envision a wetlands preserve flowing through the property along a major tributary of Morrison Creek.
Developer Angelo K. Tsakopoulos and his partners, who own the land, have received hearty backing from Rancho Cordova to build a tightly packed "town center" on the site and reroute Morrison Creek under a power line corridor.
"It's clear to me that the city wants this, and I'm sure it would be a wonderful plan, but there are rules out there with regard to the sharing of information with people who might have interests other than the City Council," Marlette said.
Federal officials did not formally intervene in the lawsuit. But letters from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the city of Rancho Cordova were used to bolster the native plant society's case.
Under the plan approved by the city, a 92-acre wetlands preserve would be retained in one corner of the site, but it would be less than half of what the federal agencies have endorsed.
Tsakopoulos is proposing to mitigate most of the wetlands lost at an unspecified off-site location.
Rancho Cordova Councilwoman Linda Budge said Friday that she and her colleagues haven't had a chance to discuss whether they will appeal.
"That is one of the most beautifully designed projects that we've had come before us," Budge said. "I find it quite mysterious that there could be anything anyone could object to. ... It is a town center right in the middle of the Sunrise Douglas area."
Witham said she hopes the judge's ruling forces the city of Rancho Cordova to redesign the project so it complies with the wetlands preservation strategy laid out by federal regulators for Sunrise Douglas.
That conceptual strategy, a compromise agreed to by the other Sunrise Douglas property owners, envisions a linear preserve running through the community along the natural alignment of Morrison Creek.
Under this scenario, Tsakopoulos would be required to keep about 220 acres in open space.
"It would take almost half the site in the middle of the city," said his lawyer, Jim Moose.
Even if the city's approval of the Preserve had not been overturned, Tsakopoulos still would have to obtain permits from the federal agencies before he could build. Moose said Friday his client hopes to persuade the federal agencies to modify their stance.
Phil Seymour, a lawyer for the city, downplayed the significance of the preservation strategy endorsed by the federal regulators, saying it had not been formally adopted.
"No environmental study has ever been done on the conceptual plan, no feasibility study has ever been done. It's one step above being written on a cocktail napkin," Seymour said.
The ruling in favor of the California Native Plant Society comes against a backdrop of legal uncertainty surrounding the larger Sunrise Douglas development, which is partially built and eventually will include about 18,000 homes.
In February, the California Supreme Court ruled that the environmental review for Sunrise Douglas was inadequate. Building has continued, however. Ultimately, it will be up to a Sacramento Superior Court judge to decide what additional environmental review is needed -- and whether to order construction to stop.