The Sacramento Kings, a professional basketball team, have played at the Sleep Train Arena (formerly called Arco Arena) since 1988. In January 2013, the team's then owners entered into a tentative agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to a group of investors in Seattle, Washington. Seeking to keep the team in Sacramento, the City of Sacramento (City) partnered with Sacramento Basketball Holdings, LLC, to build a new entertainment and sports center in downtown Sacramento at the site of a shopping mall with declining occupancy rates. In May 2013, the board of governors for the National Basketball Association (NBA) rejected an application to sell the team and move it to Seattle, and approved the sale of the team to Sacramento Basketball Holdings. The NBA's board of governors also reserved the right to acquire the Sacramento Kings and relocate the team to another city if a new arena in Sacramento does not open by 2017.
To meet the NBA's deadline, the City and Sacramento Basketball Holdings developed a schedule that targets October 2016 as the opening date for the downtown arena. To facilitate timely completion of the project, the Legislature added section 21168.6.6 to the Public Resources Code.
Adriana Gianturco Saltonstall and 11 other individuals sued to challenge section 21168.6.6's constitutionality as well as the project's compliance with CEQA requirements.
Saltonstall appeals the denial of the preliminary injunction on two grounds. First, she argues section 21168.6.6 represents an unconstitutional intrusion of the legislative branch on the core function of the courts. Second, Saltonstall contends the preliminary injunction should have been granted because section 21168.6.6 "harms [the public] and the environment," but not the respondents.
Based on Saltonstall's contention that the time limits imposed by section 21168.6.6 are too short to allow any meaningful judicial scrutiny, we exercise our discretion to consider the constitutional challenge on grounds the issue might otherwise evade judicial review despite the potential for repetition. On the merits, we reject Saltonstall's constitutional challenge because section 21168.6.6 does not materially impair a core function of the courts. Moreover, CEQA review does not implicate any constitutionally granted right. Consequently, even if the deadlines set forth in section 21168.6.6 are short, they are not unconstitutional. We reject Saltonstall's argument that the City and Sacramento Basketball Holdings will not be harmed by a preliminary injunction. Saltonstall mistakenly assumes respondents have the burden of showing a preliminary injunction will cause harm to them. Instead, it is Saltonstall who bore but failed to meet the burden to show the necessity for a preliminary injunction. We deny the City's request for attorney fees because the City failed to comply with the California Rules of Court rule applicable to motions for sanctions on appeal. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's order denying the preliminary injunction and deny the City's request for monetary sanctions on appeal.
The downtown arena project involves demolition of a part of the Downtown Plaza, a pedestrian only shopping mall in Sacramento bounded by J Street to the north, L Street to the south, 7th Street to the east, and 4th Street to the west. In place of a portion of the shopping mall, the City and Sacramento Basketball Holdings plan to construct a 17,500-seat entertainment and sports center along with approximately 1.5 million square feet of related retail, commercial, office, and residential development.
The downtown arena has been designed to meet the requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification. Among the downtown arena's environmental design goals are carbon neutrality, reduction of per-attendee-vehicle miles travelled, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Urban design goals include plans to spark redevelopment of the downtown area with an influx of basketball game and concert event attendees to the arena.
The demolition and construction schedule targets the opening date for the downtown arena for October 2016 because the NBA reserved the right to acquire the Sacramento Kings and relocate the team to another city if a new arena is not open by 2017.
On September 27, 2013, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill No. 743 (2013-2014 Reg. Sess.), which, among other things, added section 21168.6.6 to the Public Resources Code. (Stats. 2013, ch. 386, § 7.) Section 16 of Senate Bill No. 743 "declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique need for the development of an entertainment and sports center project in the City of Sacramento in an expeditious manner." Section 21168.6.6 modifies several CEQA deadlines specifically for the project to build the downtown arena in Sacramento.
Section 21168.6.6 does not change CEQA's standards for required content of the environmental impact report (EIR) or approval for the project. Instead,
Consistent with the deadlines set forth in section 21168.6.6, the City engaged in an expedited environmental review process. The City issued a notice of preparation of the EIR on April 12, 2013. The draft EIR was completed and posted on the City's Web site on December 16, 2013. Two days later, the documents relied upon by the City in preparing the draft EIR were also posted online. The City conducted an informal public workshop regarding the draft EIR on December 18, 2013, and a public hearing on January 23, 2014, before the close of public comments. All documents related to the project prepared by the City or submitted by Sacramento Basketball Holdings after the release of the draft EIR were posted on the City's Web site within three business days of the document's preparation or receipt by the City.
As required by section 21168.6.6, the City engaged in mediation with several interested parties (including Saltonstall's attorney) in February 2014 to address issues regarding the draft EIR. The City completed and posted on its public Web site the final EIR for the project on May 9, 2014. The Sacramento City Council certified the final EIR and approved the project on May 20, 2014. Demolition of the shopping mall began in the summer of 2014.
The day after the City certified the final EIR and approved the project, Saltonstall filed a petition for writ of mandate in which she alleged the City violated CEQA by certifying the final EIR and that section 21168.6.6 violates the California Constitution. In the petition, Saltonstall requested a preliminary injunction, declaratory relief, and attorney fees.
On June 10, 2014, Saltonstall filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stay demolition of the shopping mall, reiterating her contentions that the City violated CEQA by certifying the final EIR and section 21168.6.6 is unconstitutional. The City and Sacramento Basketball Holdings opposed the motion. The trial court denied the motion for preliminary injunction, rejecting Saltonstall's constitutional challenge by explaining section 21168.6.6 is "not unconstitutional because it includes `unrealistic' time frames. While the court agrees with [Saltonstall] that the time frames are extremely (perhaps overly) aggressive, the court is not persuaded that this renders the statute unconstitutional, because the statute does not purport to divest the court of jurisdiction for failing to adhere to them. The statute directs the Judicial Council to adopt rules that require legal challenges (including any potential appeals) be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 days of certification of the administrative record."
The trial court also found Saltonstall had failed to make any showing of imminent harm to warrant a preliminary injunction. The trial court stated: "Section 21168.6.6's standard for injunctive relief is not met here. [Saltonstall] make[s] only passing arguments, unsupported with citation to authority or evidence, that construction of the downtown arena presents an `imminent threat to the public health and safety' or would adversely affect `unforeseen important' historical/archaeological artifacts or ecological values."
Saltonstall timely filed a notice of appeal from the order denying the motion for preliminary injunction.
We begin by addressing the City's contention that this appeal should be dismissed as moot. We decline to dismiss Saltonstall's appeal as moot.
We conclude Saltonstall's appeal presents issues of a continuing interest to the public but may by their very nature evade review. The gravamen of Saltonstall's constitutional challenge is that section 21168.6.6 violates the separation of powers because it imposes deadlines too short for the courts to meet. If Saltonstall's argument were to have merit, it would mean the trial and appellate courts labor under an unconstitutional (and, according to her, impossible) burden that results in a material interference with the core function of the courts. Saltonstall alleges a weighty infringement of one branch of government on a coequal branch.
Section 21168.6.6 is limited in scope because it applies only to the Sacramento downtown arena. However, immediately preceding the statute challenged in this case is section 21168.6.5, in which the Legislature provided for expedited CEQA review of a project to build a stadium in Los Angeles. (§ 21168.6.5, subds. (a)(3), (e).) Subdivision (f) of section 21168.6.5 bears some resemblance to the accelerated deadlines provided in section 21168.6.6. Consequently, the issue of accelerated deadlines for CEQA review of a
Saltonstall contends section 21168.6.6 violates the separation of powers enshrined in the California Constitution. She reasons that section 21168.6.6 deprives the courts of power to grant injunctive relief to stop the downtown arena's construction if the project does not comply with CEQA. She further contends section 21168.6.6 violates separation of powers by imposing unrealistic short deadlines for review of the project's compliance with CEQA requirements. We are not persuaded.
In County of Mendocino, the California Supreme Court explained that "to say that a court has `inherent power' with respect to a particular subject matter or function ... appears to mean simply that the court, by virtue of its status as one of the three constitutionally designated branches of government, has the power to act even in the absence of explicit constitutional or legislative authorization." (County of Mendocino, supra, 13 Cal.4th at p. 57.) Under this understanding of the inherent power of the courts, "[i]t does not follow ... that the Legislature necessarily violates the separation of powers doctrine whenever it legislates with regard to such an inherent judicial power or function." (Ibid.) Indeed, case law has long recognized the propriety of the Legislature providing "reasonable regulations affecting a court's inherent powers or functions, so long as the legislation does not `defeat' or `materially impair' a court's exercise of its constitutional power or the fulfillment of its constitutional function." (Id. at pp. 58-59.) Nearly a century ago, the California Supreme Court recognized the Legislature "may provide rules of procedure" for the courts — even to limit the monetary penalty and jail time a court may impose to punish a litigant for contempt. (In re Garner (1918) 179 Cal. 409, 413 [177 P. 162].)
Under these principles, legislative additions and subtractions of statutory rights do not violate the California Constitution's doctrine of separation of powers unless the new laws have the effect of materially impairing the core function of a coequal branch.
In this case, Saltonstall presents a facial challenge to section 21168.6.6 because she argues the section "makes it impossible for the Court" to adhere to CEQA requirements. She also argues the legislation enacting section 21168.6.6 inherently "infringes on a core, constitutional judicial power of injunction ...." Although Saltonstall notes in passing that section 21168.6.6, "as applied, would allow demolition and construction of the arena to finish, depriving the trial court of any real remedy, depriving the appeal courts of any real remedy," she does not concede the statute can be valid under any enforcement effort. Thus, Saltonstall presents a facial challenge to section
Which interests should be weighed, or even considered, against the benefits of a new downtown arena may be determined by the Legislature. We do "not sit in review of the Legislature's wisdom in balancing these policies against the goal of environmental protection because, no matter how important its original purpose, CEQA remains a legislative act, subject to legislative limitation and legislative amendment." (Napa Valley Wine Train, Inc. v. Public Utilities Com. (1990) 50 Cal.3d 370, 376 [267 Cal.Rptr. 569, 787 P.2d 976], abrogated on another point in § 21080.04, subd. (b).) It is the prerogative of the Legislature to determine whether "an interest [is] important enough to justify foregoing the benefits of environmental review." (Napa Valley Wine Train, Inc., at p. 382.) "The judiciary may be asked to decide whether a statute is arbitrary or unreasonable for constitutional purposes [citation], but no inquiry into the `wisdom' of underlying policy choices is made. [Citation.]" (People v. Bunn (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1, 17 [115 Cal.Rptr.2d 192, 37 P.3d 380].)
Next, it appears Saltonstall argues that the deadlines imposed for judicial review of the downtown arena are impossibly short, and thereby prevent the courts from fulfilling their adjudicatory functions. At oral argument, we attempted to discern whether Saltonstall's separation of powers argument regarding the legislative directive for the Judicial Council to enact a rule of court to implement section 21168.6.6 concerned (1) the very fact that the Legislature instructed the Judicial Council to do something (here, to enact a rule of court), or (2) the nature of the timeline to be recognized by the new rule.
Insofar as Saltonstall contends the deadlines imposed on the judicial function are impossibly short, we reject the contention based on subdivision (d) of section 21168.6.6. Subdivision (d) of section 21168.6.6 requires the Judicial Council to "adopt a rule of court to establish procedures applicable to actions or proceedings brought to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul the certification of the environmental impact report for the project or the granting of any project approvals that require the actions or proceedings, including any potential appeals therefrom, be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 days of certification of the record of proceedings pursuant to subdivision (f)." (Italics added.)
Saltonstall appears to contend the trial court erred in denying her motion for preliminary injunction.
Having rejected Saltonstall's facial challenge to section 21168.6.6, we proceed to consider the requirements it imposes for the issuance of a preliminary injunction to halt work on the downtown arena project. Subdivision (h) precludes a preliminary injunction in the absence of a finding by the trial court that the project "presents an imminent threat to the public health and safety," or adversely affects "unforeseen important Native American artifacts or unforeseen important historical, archaeological, or ecological values."
In the trial court, Saltonstall failed to make the necessary showing to secure a preliminary injunction. The trial court found Saltonstall made "only passing arguments, unsupported with citation to authority or evidence, that construction of the downtown arena presents an `imminent threat to the public health and safety' or would adversely affect `unforeseen important' historical/archaeological artifacts or ecological values."
Rather than attempting to demonstrate she made the requisite evidentiary showing of the factors specified in subdivision (h) of section 21168.6.6, Saltonstall asserts respondents would not have been disadvantaged by a stay of construction. Saltonstall asserts no evidence shows "that the NBA will yank the team" if the project is not timely completed, the City's finances "are not affected" by any construction delay, and Sacramento Basketball Holdings is not harmed by a stay. Saltonstall's argument rests on a misunderstanding about the showing required to secure a preliminary injunction under section 21168.6.6.
To secure a preliminary injunction, Saltonstall bears the burden of demonstrating an imminent threat to public health and safety or to previously unknown historical or ecological values. (O'Connell v. Superior Court, supra, 141 Cal.App.4th at p. 1481; § 21168.6.6, subd. (h)(1)(A)(i)-(ii).) Thus, Saltonstall's assertions regarding lack of harm to respondents are irrelevant to the analysis of whether the trial court erred in denying the motion for a preliminary injunction. Even if we assume for the sake of argument that the City and Sacramento Basketball Holdings would suffer no financial loss and the NBA would not "yank" the Sacramento Kings as a result of the delay arising from a stay of construction, lack of harm to respondents does not prove or disprove any of the factors upon which a preliminary injunction may be issued under subdivision (h) of section 21168.6.6.
We conclude Saltonstall failed to make the required showing for a preliminary injunction under section 21168.6.6. Thus, the trial court did not err in denying Saltonstall's motion for a preliminary injunction.
Citing Code of Civil Procedure section 907, the City, in its respondent's brief, requests that we impose monetary sanctions on Saltonstall for a frivolous appeal that "appears to serve no purpose but to harass the City ...." We deny the request because the City has not filed a motion for sanctions along with a declaration supporting the amount sought. California Rules of Court, rule 8.276(b)(1) provides that a motion for sanctions on appeal "must include a declaration supporting the amount of any monetary sanction sought and must be served and filed before any order dismissing the appeal but no
The order denying appellants', Adriana Gianturco Saltonstall et al., motion for a preliminary injunction is affirmed. Respondent City of Sacramento's request for monetary sanctions is denied. The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.278(a)(1) & (5).)
Nicholson, Acting P. J., and Mauro, J., concurred.