## Facts

- A county prepared and circulated an environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed new county general plan and held a public hearing.
- The county board of supervisors certified completion of the EIR, approved wording changes to the draft plan, and referred the matter back to the planning commission.
- Shortly afterward, county staff advised the board that the wording changes were consistent with the certified EIR, and the board adopted the general plan.
- A homeowners association sought mandate relief alleging (1) CEQA violations in the EIR and (2) statutory defects in the general plan’s land use, circulation, and housing elements under the Planning and Zoning Law.
- The trial court granted limited relief on certain timberland-classification issues and rejected the remaining CEQA and general plan challenges.
- On appeal, the association focused on whether the EIR remained adequate after post-certification plan changes and whether the land use and circulation elements satisfied statutory requirements.

## Issues

1. Whether the EIR complied with CEQA, including whether significant changes to the general plan after EIR certification required additional environmental review.
2. Whether the land use element satisfied the statutory requirement to state standards of population density and building intensity for land use designations.
3. Whether the circulation element was sufficiently correlated with the land use element and adequately analyzed transportation effects of planned land uses.
4. Whether the housing element complied with statutory requirements.

## Decision

- The court affirmed in part and reversed in part.
- The court held the EIR was supported by substantial evidence except for limited deficiencies tied to certain significant post-certification changes (including changes affecting heavy industrial development provisions and seismic-safety-related amendments), which required additional CEQA analysis.
- The court held the land use element was legally deficient because it did not provide adequate population density and building intensity standards across land use categories.
- The court held the circulation element was legally deficient because it was not sufficiently correlated with the land use element and did not adequately analyze circulation impacts from proposed land uses.
- The court upheld the housing element as compliant with statutory requirements.
- The matter was remanded for further proceedings, including potential injunctive relief and attorney’s fees, and for the county to correct the identified deficiencies.

## Legal Principles

- Under CEQA, an EIR’s certification may be upheld under substantial evidence review, but significant changes to the project after certification can require further environmental analysis so review matches the project ultimately adopted.
- A general plan’s land use element must include clear, quantifiable standards of population density and building intensity for land use districts; minimum lot sizes and vague classifications are insufficient substitutes where they do not state density and intensity standards for applicable categories.
- General plan elements must be internally consistent; the circulation element must be correlated with land use assumptions and must address how planned land uses will affect the transportation and circulation system.
- A housing element satisfies statutory requirements when it provides the required inventory and assessment of housing needs and otherwise meets prescribed content standards.

## Conclusion

The court largely sustained the county’s EIR but required limited additional CEQA review for significant post-certification plan changes, and it invalidated the general plan’s land use and circulation elements for failure to state adequate density/intensity standards and for lack of correlation and analysis, while upholding the housing element.


Twain Harte Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. County of Tuolumne, 188 Cal. Rptr. 233 (Ct. App. 1982)