California Native Plant Society Archives

Madrona Appeal Victory

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on October 17, 2017 with No Comments

Yesterday the Esperanza Hills appellate court victory was announced to Yorba Linda residents and today we get to announce Madrona’s court victory. YES! We just received word from our attorneys at Shute, Mihaly, and Weinberger that the 4th District Court of Appeals ruled in our favor on the Madrona project. We are absolutely thrilled! The court agreed with our position, stating that the Project violates the City of Brea General Plan, specifically its Woodland Protection policy, and that the Environmental Impact Report should have … Read More

Esperanza Hills Victory

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on October 16, 2017 with No Comments

We just learned that the 4th District Court of Appeals rendered its decision on our appeal of the original 2015 lawsuit. We won–again!! In this appeal stemming from the original lawsuit, we included four issues that we had lost. They were: 1) Project Description (adjacency to Chino Hills State Park), 2) Fire Evacuation and Access, 3) Biology (impacts to sensitive plant species), and 4) the Project’s Water Use. The Friday the 13th decision means the County needs to recirculate the Esperanza Hills … Read More

Esperanza Hills Victory Article

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on July 6, 2016 with No Comments

The OC Register has written an article highlighting the Hills For Everyone and Protect Our Homes and Hills win on the Esperanza Hills lawsuit. Join residents for a celebratory dinner at Wise Guys Pizzeria at Yorba Ranch Road and Yorba Linda Blvd tomorrow (July 7th) at 6 PM. View the article here.

Madrona Project Overturned in Court

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on November 6, 2015 with No Comments

We just received the ruling from Orange County Judge Robert Moss and couldn’t be more thrilled. We won! He granted our petition almost across the board. He found that Brea violated its own planning documents, that the Environmental Impact Report was not adequate, and therefore the 162 unit housing project next to Chino Hills State Park is no longer approved. That’s right, the project is overturned. The project would have removed 1,400 oak and walnut trees destroying the extensive woodlands … Read More

Madrona Court Heart

by Melanie Schlotterbeck on October 30, 2015 with No Comments

Today, Hills For Everyone and the Stop Madrona team attended the court hearing before Judge Moss at the Superior Court of California (in Santa Ana). Sara Clark and Gabriel Ross from Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger represented Hills For Everyone, Sierra Club, Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks and California Native Plant Society. Our petition was against the City of Brea for its approval of the 162 unit Madrona project in Carbon Canyon, as well as the developer (the state of Idaho is … Read More