April 1, 2013 by Peter Surowski
Ruling on Metrolink More Complicated Than It Seemed
Last week, I reported on information released by the Riverside Superior Court about a lawsuit against the Riverside County Transportation Commission for its planned Perris Valley Line.
The court released one sentence about the ruling on its public access website: “Writ of mandate is denied.”
I and folks on both sides of the lawsuit took that to mean that the judge ruled in favor of RCTC and shot down the writ of mandate filed in 2011 by Friends of Riverside’s Hills, an environmental group.
Then I got my hands on the full text of the ruling, which you can read by clicking here.
RELATED: Judge sides with opponents on some Metrolink issues
It showed that, sure, the judge ruled in favor of RCTC on the majority of the counts, but it ruled in favor of Friends on five. All it takes is one favorable ruling on one item to hold up construction, said Ray Johnson, an attorney for Friends.
The ruling was a surprise to people on both sides of the lawsuit who read the decision before receiving the full ruling in the mail later.
“We got whiplash,” from the about-face the full-text ruling seemed to be from the truncated one-sentence ruling, said Johnson.
RELATED: Perris approves construction on new Metrolink station
This leaves those involved — but especially me — to wonder why the court would offer such an over-simplified piece of information on its public access website.
“There’s no reason they couldn’t have had a more accurate statement,” said John Standiford, the deputy executive director of RCTC.
So what happens next? Neither side is 100 percent sure. They’re trying to figure out what happens next and how they can resolve the problem.
“What we hope is they take the judge’s criticisms to heart and mitigate the issues on which they lost,” said Len Nunney, the secretary for Friends.
What Looked Like A Green Light For Construction Of A New Metrolink Line Last Week Looks More Like A Yellow Light This Week
Last week, I reported on information released by the Riverside Superior Court about a lawsuit against the Riverside County Transportation Commission for its planned Perris Valley Line.
The court released one sentence about the ruling on its public access website: “Writ of mandate is denied.”
I and folks on both sides of the lawsuit took that to mean that the judge ruled in favor of RCTC and shot down the writ of mandate filed in 2011 by Friends of Riverside’s Hills, an environmental group.
Then I got my hands on the full text of the ruling.
RELATED: Judge sides with opponents on some Metrolink issues
It showed that, sure, the judge ruled in favor of RCTC on the majority of the counts, but it ruled in favor of Friends on five. All it takes is one favorable ruling on one item to hold up construction, said Ray Johnson, an attorney for Friends.
The ruling was a surprise to people on both sides of the lawsuit who read the decision before receiving the full ruling in the mail later.
“We got whiplash,” from the about-face the full-text ruling seemed to be from the truncated one-sentence ruling, said Johnson.
RELATED: Perris approves construction on new Metrolink station
This leaves those involved — but especially me — to wonder why the court would offer such an over-simplified piece of information on its public access website.
“There’s no reason they couldn’t have had a more accurate statement,” said John Standiford, the deputy executive director of RCTC.
So what happens next? Neither side is 100 percent sure. They’re trying to figure out what happens next and how they can resolve the problem.
“What we hope is they take the judge’s criticisms to heart and mitigate the issues on which they lost,” said Len Nunney, the secretary for Friends.
When The Dust Settles Environmental Group Wins Lawsuit
The full text of a court ruling on Metrolink’s planned Perris Valley Line shows that while a judge supported transportation officials on most issues, she agreed with opponents that noise, pedestrian safety and other key points remain to be addressed.
Both sides are trying to figure out what to do next.
The court released a single-sentence ruling late Thursday, March 28, denying a writ of mandate filed by the environmental group Friends of Riverside’s Hills. The group sued the Riverside County Transportation Commission in 2011, claiming it had failed to address a number of environmental consequences of the commuter train plan.
Yet the full text made available Monday, April 1, shows Judge Sharon J. Waters ruled for Friends on five of 15 points noted in the project’s environmental impact report: the effects on soil, use of track lubricant, pedestrian safety, train wheel noise and construction noise.
Riverside County Transportation Commission officials haven’t yet determined what the ruling means for the project.
“We’re kind of scrambling to figure out the impact,” said John Standiford, the commission’s deputy executive director.
The $232.7 million project would add 24 miles of rails and four Metrolink stations: one in Riverside, one near March Air Reserve Base and two in Perris. The Riverside-Perris line is projected to see about 4,000 boardings daily.
Standiford said he was surprised by the ruling, in view of the court’s one-sentence summary of the ruling released last week.
“There’s no reason they couldn’t have had a more accurate statement,” Standiford said.
For Friends, the full text of the ruling was a happy surprise, said Ray Johnson, an attorney representing Friends.
“We think she got it right that there were significant issues … that weren’t addressed,” he said.
The judge found for RCTC on other issues named in the suit, including the project’s effect on air quality and on the habitat of the western spadefoot toad, a sensitive species.
Attorneys for Friends and the transportation commission will discuss how they can address the decision, Johnson said. He is expected to write a proposed judgment by April 24.
RCTC will discuss its next move during a closed session at its board meeting on Wednesday, April 3.
The environmental group hopes the transportation commission will change the project to address their concerns, said Len Nunney, secretary for Friends.
“(We hope) to make it a much more satisfactory project,” he said.
– See more at: http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/perris/perris-headlines-index/20130401-perris-judge-sides-with-opponents-on-some-metrolink-issues.ece#sthash.csU9CXS0.dpuf
The full text of a court ruling on Metrolink’s planned Perris Valley Line shows that while a judge supported transportation officials on most issues, she agreed with opponents that noise, pedestrian safety and other key points remain to be addressed.
Both sides are trying to figure out what to do next.
The court released a single-sentence ruling late Thursday, March 28, denying a writ of mandate filed by the environmental group Friends of Riverside’s Hills. The group sued the Riverside County Transportation Commission in 2011, claiming it had failed to address a number of environmental consequences of the commuter train plan.
Yet the full text made available Monday, April 1, shows Judge Sharon J. Waters ruled for Friends on five of 15 points noted in the project’s environmental impact report: the effects on soil, use of track lubricant, pedestrian safety, train wheel noise and construction noise.
Riverside County Transportation Commission officials haven’t yet determined what the ruling means for the project.
“We’re kind of scrambling to figure out the impact,” said John Standiford, the commission’s deputy executive director.
The $232.7 million project would add 24 miles of rails and four Metrolink stations: one in Riverside, one near March Air Reserve Base and two in Perris. The Riverside-Perris line is projected to see about 4,000 boardings daily.
Standiford said he was surprised by the ruling, in view of the court’s one-sentence summary of the ruling released last week.
“There’s no reason they couldn’t have had a more accurate statement,” Standiford said.
For Friends, the full text of the ruling was a happy surprise, said Ray Johnson, an attorney representing Friends.
“We think she got it right that there were significant issues … that weren’t addressed,” he said.
The judge found for RCTC on other issues named in the suit, including the project’s effect on air quality and on the habitat of the western spadefoot toad, a sensitive species.
Attorneys for Friends and the transportation commission will discuss how they can address the decision, Johnson said. He is expected to write a proposed judgment by April 24.
RCTC will discuss its next move during a closed session at its board meeting on Wednesday, April 3.
The environmental group hopes the transportation commission will change the project to address their concerns, said Len Nunney, secretary for Friends.
“(We hope) to make it a much more satisfactory project,” he said.
– See more at: http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/perris/perris-headlines-index/20130401-perris-judge-sides-with-opponents-on-some-metrolink-issues.ece#sthash.csU9CXS0.dpuf
The full text of a court ruling on Metrolink’s planned Perris Valley Line shows that while a judge supported transportation officials on most issues, she agreed with opponents that noise, pedestrian safety and other key points remain to be addressed.
Both sides are trying to figure out what to do next.
The court released a single-sentence ruling late Thursday, March 28, denying a writ of mandate filed by the environmental group Friends of Riverside’s Hills. The group sued the Riverside County Transportation Commission in 2011, claiming it had failed to address a number of environmental consequences of the commuter train plan.
Yet the full text made available Monday, April 1, shows Judge Sharon J. Waters ruled for Friends on five of 15 points noted in the project’s environmental impact report: the effects on soil, use of track lubricant, pedestrian safety, train wheel noise and construction noise.
Riverside County Transportation Commission officials haven’t yet determined what the ruling means for the project.
“We’re kind of scrambling to figure out the impact,” said John Standiford, the commission’s deputy executive director.
The $232.7 million project would add 24 miles of rails and four Metrolink stations: one in Riverside, one near March Air Reserve Base and two in Perris. The Riverside-Perris line is projected to see about 4,000 boardings daily.
Standiford said he was surprised by the ruling, in view of the court’s one-sentence summary of the ruling released last week.
“There’s no reason they couldn’t have had a more accurate statement,” Standiford said.
For Friends, the full text of the ruling was a happy surprise, said Ray Johnson, an attorney representing Friends.
“We think she got it right that there were significant issues … that weren’t addressed,” he said.
The judge found for RCTC on other issues named in the suit, including the project’s effect on air quality and on the habitat of the western spadefoot toad, a sensitive species.
Attorneys for Friends and the transportation commission will discuss how they can address the decision, Johnson said. He is expected to write a proposed judgment by April 24.
RCTC will discuss its next move during a closed session at its board meeting on Wednesday, April 3.
The environmental group hopes the transportation commission will change the project to address their concerns, said Len Nunney, secretary for Friends.
“(We hope) to make it a much more satisfactory project,” he said.
– See more at: http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/perris/perris-headlines-index/20130401-perris-judge-sides-with-opponents-on-some-metrolink-issues.ece#sthash.csU9CXS0.dpuf
The full text of a court ruling on Metrolink’s planned Perris Valley Line shows that while a judge supported transportation officials on most issues, she agreed with opponents that noise, pedestrian safety and other key points remain to be addressed.
Both sides are trying to figure out what to do next.
The court released a single-sentence ruling late Thursday, March 28, denying a writ of mandate filed by the environmental group Friends of Riverside’s Hills. The group sued the Riverside County Transportation Commission in 2011, claiming it had failed to address a number of environmental consequences of the commuter train plan.
Yet the full text made available Monday, April 1, shows Judge Sharon J. Waters ruled for Friends on five of 15 points noted in the project’s environmental impact report: the effects on soil, use of track lubricant, pedestrian safety, train wheel noise and construction noise.
Riverside County Transportation Commission officials haven’t yet determined what the ruling means for the project.
“We’re kind of scrambling to figure out the impact,” said John Standiford, the commission’s deputy executive director.
The $232.7 million project would add 24 miles of rails and four Metrolink stations: one in Riverside, one near March Air Reserve Base and two in Perris. The Riverside-Perris line is projected to see about 4,000 boardings daily.
Standiford said he was surprised by the ruling, in view of the court’s one-sentence summary of the ruling released last week.
“There’s no reason they couldn’t have had a more accurate statement,” Standiford said.
For Friends, the full text of the ruling was a happy surprise, said Ray Johnson, an attorney representing Friends.
“We think she got it right that there were significant issues … that weren’t addressed,” he said.
The judge found for RCTC on other issues named in the suit, including the project’s effect on air quality and on the habitat of the western spadefoot toad, a sensitive species.
Attorneys for Friends and the transportation commission will discuss how they can address the decision, Johnson said. He is expected to write a proposed judgment by April 24.
RCTC will discuss its next move during a closed session at its board meeting on Wednesday, April 3.
The environmental group hopes the transportation commission will change the project to address their concerns, said Len Nunney, secretary for Friends.
“(We hope) to make it a much more satisfactory project,” he said.
– See more at: http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/perris/perris-headlines-index/20130401-perris-judge-sides-with-opponents-on-some-metrolink-issues.ece#sthash.csU9CXS0.dpuf