The California Supreme Court today cleared the way for the Exposition Light Rail project from Culver City to Santa Monica to proceed.
The Court’s 6-1 decision affirmed earlier judgments by the state Court of Appeal and the Superior Court that denied a writ petition by local opposition group Neighbors For Smart Rail (NFSR).
The group claimed the Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority relied on an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that was deficient under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
NFSR’s claim turned on the assertion that the Expo Authority EIR failed to take into account certain analytic factors and did not include mitigation measures addressing community impacts around planned rail stations.
The Court largely rejected those claims, finding only a minor deficiency on one point that was non-prejudicial and did not deprive the Agency or the public of the relevant information.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents much of the Expo Line alignment, praised today’s ruling.
“Today, by a resounding 6-1 vote, the state Supreme Court has cleared the last legal hurdle and allowed us to proceed full speed ahead to completing the Expo Light Rail Lane from Culver City to Santa Monica,” Yaroslavsky said. “With this litigation now behind us, Westside residents can look forward to an exciting new public transit option when the Expo Line is scheduled to open in 2015.”
