LOS ANGELES— A California appeals court will hear arguments Thursday on a controversial sprawl development proposed on the outskirts of Los Angeles County.

In 2023 a judge ordered Los Angeles County to set aside its approval of Tejon Ranchcorp’s Centennial, a massive development that would bring 57,000 residents to a fire-prone site near the Grapevine. In 2021 the Los Angeles Superior Court judge had ruled that the county’s environmental review for the project violated state law by failing to thoroughly analyze and reduce climate and wildfire risks.

The 2nd District Court of Appeals on Thursday will hear arguments from the developers appealing the lower court decision. The Center for Biological Diversity and California Native Plant Society are asking the court to rule against the development for blocking wildlife movement and destroying native plants.

“Having witnessed wildfire devastation on such a massive scale, Los Angeles County should think twice about building new cities in dangerous wildfire zones,” said John Buse, senior counsel at the Center. “Wildfire risk is just one of many problems with this poorly planned project. Allowing Centennial to be built as proposed would cause irreparable harm to native grasslands that serve as precious habitat for rare plants and wildlife.”

What: Court hearing on Tejon Ranchcorp’s Centennial

When: Thursday, April 3, 2025, 1:30 p.m.

Where: 2nd District Court of Appeals, Division 7, 300 S. Spring St., 3rd Floor, North Tower, Los Angeles, CA 90013

Who: Attorneys representing environmental groups will attend and be available after the hearing.

Background

The Center and California Native Plant Society sued Los Angeles County for violating the California Environmental Quality Act in approving the 12,000-acre Centennial development. The lawsuit alleges the county had failed to adequately analyze wildfire risks, greenhouse gas emissions, wildlife connectivity and destruction to rare plants.

A court in 2021 agreed with environmentalists that the project posed wildfire and climate harms. On Thursday the environmental groups will argue the other environmental claims in their cross-appeal.