A federal judge has blocked construction of a 314-acre mixed-use development project in California after environmental groups filed a lawsuit arguing it would “result in a significant loss of local wetland and vernal pool habitats” and threaten species, including a rare and endangered flower.
The ruling from Daniel Calabretta surrounding the proposed Stonegate Development Project in Chico states that “the Court finds that the government’s 2020 approval of the project is at least in part arbitrary and capricious,” adding that it cannot move forward until the completion of a “legally adequate Biological Opinion.”
“The location selected for the Project is host to seasonal vernal pool and vernal swale complexes, which are pools that form during the rainy season and dry out during the summer and fall months,” he wrote. “The vernal pools support a wide variety of wildlife, and the genetic makeup of species in a single vernal pool can vary from that of a nearby pool, making their interconnectivity critical to support the sharing of genetic information between the species.”
The Butte County meadowfoam – a “herbaceous annual found only in vernal pool habitat in Butte County” that is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) since 1992 – and threatened species such as the vernal pool fairy shrimp and the giant garter snake call the area their home, according to Calabretta.
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Author: Faith Novak
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