We are pleased to announce that the First District Court of Appeal has affirmed the Marin County Superior Court ruling in our favor in our 2016 lawsuit in which we contested the County’s unlawful issuance of a permit allowing San Rafael Rock Quarry expansion. SRRQ had appealed from that decision, which held that the County’s approval in 2013, and again in 2015, of a quarrying permit amendment allowing the Quarry to import used asphalt for recycling was an improper expansion of the Quarry’s nonconforming use.
The appellate court concluded that by granting a permit for the importation of asphalt grindings, the SRRQ was allowed to change and unnaturally expand or increase its nonconforming use in violation of the County zoning ordinance. Because SRRQ’s importation of asphalt grindings is not within the scope of the existing nonconforming use and the activity constitutes an impermissible extension or enlargement of the nonconforming use in violation of the County zoning ordinance, the County had no authority to approve the permit.
We are grateful for the outstanding work of our excellent attorney, John Edgcomb, who has so capably represented our community.
A copy of the opinion is available here: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/A150002.PDF
An article in the May 8, 2019 issue of the Marin Independent Journal regarding this appeals court decision can be viewed below: