Collateral Estoppel Bars Copy-Cat Environmental Plaintiff In New Case After Judgment

Roberson v. City of Rialto (4th Dist., Div. 2, 5/21/2014, E058187)

The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed a judgment denying a petition for writ of mandate to invalidate project approvals for the construction of a large commercial retail center in the City of Rialto (the "City") to be anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The court held that: (1) the appellant had not demonstrated that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to credit the appellant's "evidence of prejudice," and (2) appellant's defective notice claims were barred by res judicata. The court's conclusion that the parties were in privity with one another, despite the appellant's assertion he brought the case in his own interest, demonstrates how defendants may be able to more effectively apply the doctrine of res judicata to bar subsequent claims in litigation under the California Environmental Quality Act.

The Rialto City Council adopted project approvals for construction of a commercial retail center on July 15, 2008, pursuant to the recommendation of the City's planning commission. Prior to adoption of the project approvals, the City published a notice of the hearing for the project proposal on June 21, 2008, which stated that the city council would hold a public hearing on July 1, 2008, to consider the project approvals. The notice did not disclose that the planning commission's recommendation.

Appellant and plaintiff, Marcus L. Roberson, filed a writ petition alleging that the notice of the July 1 city council hearing on the project was defective—which defendants conceded was true—because it did not include the planning commission's recommendations on the project approvals. In its analysis, the court took note of a related case, which also sought to set aside the project approvals based in part on the same defect in the notice, Rialto Citizens for Responsible Growth v. City of Rialto (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 899.

On the merits of appellant's case, the court first determined that Roberson failed to show that he was prejudiced by the defective notice as required under Government Code § 65010(b). The court explained that the record was insufficient to demonstrate prejudice on two grounds: (1) appellant failed to substantiate what comments he would have submitted had he known of the planning commission's recommendation to adopt the project approvals in addition to the evidence already submitted in the Rialto Citizens case; and (2) the trial court's judgment...