Guenoc Valley Development Site.Lake County, CA.Wildfire Burn 2020.Center for Biological Diversity. Photo courtesy of Drew Bird Photography

LAKE COUNTY, CA (MPG) - A California appeals court has rejected Lake County’s environmental review and approval of a sprawling upscale resort development in Northern California because the county failed to assess wildfire ignition risk.

Oct. 23 decision follows a 2022 trial court ruling ordering the county to set aside its approval of the project because it also failed to consider how the development would affect public safety and wildfire evacuations.

“This groundbreaking decision affirms that local governments and developers must publicly disclose how harmful it is to put a new community in a wildfire zone,” said Peter J. Broderick, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This is the first time a California appeals court has set aside an environmental review because the agency failed to look at wildfire ignition risk. This ruling is a clear signal to those who continue to push for building low-density development in California’s wildfire-prone areas.”

Placing homes in fire-prone areas leads to more ignitions. Studies have shown that about 95% of California’s wildfires are caused by human sources.

The proposed Guenoc Valley project is a massive luxury resort and high-end residential development envisioned for 16,000 acres in Lake County. The site has a long history of wildfires and was actually on fire when the Center filed its lawsuit.

The property also hosts oak woodlands habitat for sensitive species like golden eagles, foothill yellow-legged frogs and western pond turtles, and it serves as an important wildlife corridor for the region.

The Center, subsequently joined by the California Native Plant Society, sued Lake County in 2020 for approving the project in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act.

In 2022 the Lake County Superior Court ruled that the county violated CEQA by failing to adequately consider how the project would affect wildfire evacuation. Oct. 23 ruling from the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District goes further: It determined that the county failed to assess how the project would worsen existing wildfire risks.