Per Court Order, Sunnyvale City Council Decertifies Mary Avenue Extension Project

By Alia Wilson, Sunnyvale Sun Posted 06/29/2011

awilson@community-newspapers.com

As ordered by the Superior Court, the Sunnyvale City Council decertified the Mary Avenue Extension Project environmental impact report and project approval Tuesday night, three years after it was originally approved.

The action followed a lawsuit filed by the Sunnyvale West Neighborhood Association in 2008 that contested the approval and adequacy of the EIR. The project was for a proposed bridge at the north end of Mary Avenue at Almanor Avenue. The bridge to the Moffett Business Park was designed to allegedly mitigate part of the traffic effects of the Moffett Towers.

Supreme Court Denies VTA’s Request for Sunnyvale West v. City of Sunnyvale City Council Depublication

The SUNNYVALE WEST NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION v. CITY OF SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL Certified for Publication Decision is significant and historic. A big win not only for the Mary Avenue Extension Project (MAEP) residents living nearby, but for all communities in California affected by projects requiring an Environmental Impact Report (EIR)  in compliance with the California Quality Environmental Act (CEQA) law and policy.

The Published Decision is so significant, in fact, seeming to rattle the systems of massive agencies, such as The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) as they led, with an additional 15+ other public agencies and private industry groups, in filing a multitude of Briefs to the Supreme Court with Requests for Depublication this past February.

The VTA’s et al Request to Depublish the SUNNYVALE WEST NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION v. CITY OF SUNNYVALE CITY COUNCIL was denied by The Supreme Court yesterday, April 27, 2011. The case is now closed. 

Sunnyvale West CEQA Win Rippling Effect Throughout California Courtrooms

The Sunnyvale West v City of Sunnyvale Council Appellate CEQA win is causing an immediate impact and rippling effect throughout the state of California courtrooms. In Southern California, for example, attorneys for both sides are using the Sunnyvale decision as arguments for the Expo Line Phase 2 lawsuit.

Published Dec 22, 2010 “The Sunnyvale Decision” and Phase II of Expo: Game Changer or Footnote?  Damien Newton writes “After NFSR lawyer John Bowman introduced case-law that was decided five days ago, Sunnyvale West Neighborhood Association v. City of Sunnyvale City Council, things changed.  In Sunnyvale, a state superior court ruled that the city’s environmental review of a road extension violated state law because it based it’s review on traffic projections for 2020 instead of current conditions.  The mitigation plan for Expo are based on traffic projections for 2030.”