Key Documents

1. Our Complaint, the document that filed the lawsuit. This 20 page document outlines the basis of our case and what we are asking for.

2. City Attorney Michael Aguirre's letter to the City Council, July 27, 2006, in which he advised them not to certify the EIR because it failed to meet the legal requirements ("certifying" an EIR means declaring it in compliance with CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, the State's main environmental law.)

3. The Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) letter to the City Council on July 25, 2006. This one page letter urges the City Council not to certify the EIR due to its significant shortcomings. The City would need a permit from the RWQCB to build the Regents Road bridge project because it impacts wetlands. The letter raises concerns that the potential of the Regents Road bridge project to cause significant unmitigable water quality impacts is likely to "greatly complicate" issuance of this permit.

4. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game joint letter to the City Council on July 31, 2006. This 2 page letter states that the EIR should not be certified because of its inadequacy. The two agencies also reiterate their recommendation (made in April, 2005) that the city eliminate the Regents Road bridge project from further consideration and remove it from the Community Plan. The Cal. Dept. of Fish and Game would also have to issue a permit for the Regents Road bridge project.

5. The letter from our attorneys on behalf of Friends of Rose Canyon submitted to the Mayor and the City Council on July 24, 2006. This 26 page letter explains among many other things the reasons the EIR does not meet CEQA legal standards and therefore violates the law.