Friant Ranch Specific Plan – Fresno County

The Friant Ranch Specific Plan is a large-scale, age-restricted (55+) community north of Fresno featuring approximately 2,500 residential units, commercial space, and a neighborhood electric vehicle network. RMM represented Friant Ranch, LP, in defending the EIR for the Friant Ranch Specific Plan through multiple rounds of CEQA litigation involving a large-scale, master-planned community.

RMM successfully defended three separate lawsuits challenging the EIR in the trial court and negotiated settlements in two of them. The third case proceeded to the California Supreme Court, resulting in the landmark decision in Sierra Club v. County of Fresno (2018) 6 Cal.5th 502. In that decision, the Court clarified that EIR air quality analyses must meaningfully connect emissions impacts to potential health consequences—guidance that significantly shaped CEQA practice statewide.

RMM continues to represent Friant Ranch, LP, in administrative proceedings before Fresno County, on remand from the Supreme Court, navigating the complex procedural and substantive issues arising from precedent-setting appellate review.