We are thrilled to announce that our fiscal sponsor and adviser on the Esperanza Hills and Cielo Vista projects, Hills For Everyone, just won its HUGE hillside lawsuit in Brea TODAY! Their judge ruled in favor of all important arguments in the lawsuit. Get the details on the Hills For Everyone website about the win.
Do you know what this means? It means in a David vs. Goliath situation… David can win. In fact, David did win! It took nearly 16 years, but they didn’t give up.
We can’t give up after just three years! In fact, that’s why I’m writing to you. We have taken the steps to stop Esperanza Hills by filing a lawsuit and now we are facing both Cielo Vista and the City’s approval of a road down the San Antonio Canyon. This victory is just what we needed to pick the wind up and unfurl our sails!
Here is the Hills For Everyone email:
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 on the site. The fact that the City admitted violating its own woodland preservation policies did not help their case. Unbelievably Brea actually made the finding that “oak and walnut woodlands are not habitat.” A third grader knows better.
We are so grateful to Gabriel Ross and Sara Clark at Shute, Mihaly, and Weinberger for representing us so clearly and correctly through the years. We are grateful to the many residents who dug into the details of the project to provide data, analysis, and common sense to the case.
The losing side (Brea and the trustee appointed by the bankruptcy judge in the state of Idaho) will have to decide whether to appeal such a strongly worded ruling.
Our mantra through the fight was “Stop Madrona.” It turns out we have done just that.
Thank you for your faith in our efforts to protect these wonderful resources in our region.
View the Judge’s Decision and our Press Release at:www.HillsForEveryone.org.