In The News: Banning Ranch Conservancy Reaches Settlement With Newport Beach Developer, Garnering $1.25 Million In Attorney’s Fees For CEQA Victory

Dispute Related To Long-Standing CEQA Dispute Resulting In Favorable California Supreme Court Decision To Conservancy.

            We received an email from John McClendon, a principal with Irvine’s Leibold McClendon & Mann, who was lead counsel in environmental group Banning Ranch Conservancy’s CEQA dispute with the City of Newport Beach and Newport Banning Ranch LLC over the adequacy of an EIR for a proposed development to be built on a 401-acre swath of coastal scrub and grasslands at Newport’s western edge after voters had earlier weighed in that it primarily should be open space.  The litigation was hotly contested, with Banning Ranch Conservancy gaining a hard-fought victory before the California Supreme Court in Banning Ranch Conservancy v. City of Newport Beach, 2 Cal.5^th 918 (2017).

            Mr. McClendon referred us to a Los Angeles Times article of March 29, 2018 indicating that a settlement had been reached between the parties by which the Conservancy will be paid $1.25 million in attorney’s fees (presumably based upon fee entitlement under California’s private attorney general statute) and will be involved in further discussions with the developer to effectuate a cleanup of the site (which had abandoned oil operations) and to make sure that environmental concerns adequately are addressed.  We extend our congratulations to Mr. McClendon and his client.