POOF!: $127,610 CEQA Fee Award Goes Away When Appellate Court Reverses And Orders Dismissal Based On Short-Fused Validation “Statute of Limitations”

 

Lodestar Plus 2.0 Positive Multiplier Fee Award Went Away.

     Van de Kamps Coalition v. L.A. Community College District, Case No. B241970 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Apr. 2, 2014) (unpublished)involved a CEQA challenge in litigation between plaintiff and LACCD (primarily) regarding the historic Van de Kamp’s Bakery property located around Fletcher Drive and San Fernando Road in Los Angeles. The Bakery buildings were purchased by LACCD in 2001 in order to preserve them and create a satellite community college campus.

     Plaintiff won a couple of CEQA challenges and was awarded $127,610, after the trial judge reduced the lodestar but added a 2.0 positive multiplier to the reduced lodestar number.

     That all went away on appeal. Even though the legal argument was raised first time on appeal, the reviewing court found that a 60-day “statute of limitation,” short-fused time deadline under the Validation Act was dispositive, resulting in an order of dismissal and a POOF! as far as the fee award was concerned.

Van de Kamp’s Bakery Building, 1930.