Reconsidering the case in light of the California Supreme Court’s recent Berkeley Hillside ruling, the Third District Court of Appeal has reaffirmed last year’s ruling concluding that a rodeo at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds does not qualify as an “unusual circumstance” that can override an exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act.
In April 2014, the Third District ruled that the rodeo – the first held at the Watsonville facility in many years – did not constitute an “unusual circumstance”.The plaintiffs, Citizens for Environmental Responsibility, appealed the ruling to the California Supreme Court, which stayed briefings pending the Supreme Court’s ruling in Berkeley Hillside, which also dealt with the unusual circumstances override of CEQA exemptions. After the Supreme Court ruling in Berkeley Hillside, the case was remanded to the Third District to revise the 2014 ruling in consideration of the Supreme Court’s decision.
In Berkeley Hillside, the Supreme Court laid out a two-step approach to the “unusual circumstances” question when a lead agency is considering an exemption.
