Certification of EIR Overturned for Failure to Mitigate Significant Impacts and Use of Improper Baseline

The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s denial of a writ in Woodward Park Homeowners Assn. v. City of Fresno, finding that the City violated CEQA in certifying an EIR while failing to impose mitigation measures for significant freeway impacts. The EIR was further inadequate for using, as the baseline for environmental review, a hypothetical development that could be approved under the current zoning, rather than the existing physical conditions of the site.