4576 Paradise Drive is a 9.6-acre hillside parcel above Paradise Cay in Tiburon, owned by Eric Crandall through Sierra Pines Group LLC. It holds two homes and was zoned for residential planned development, allowing a maximum of seven units. After HCD rejected the first draft of the town's 2023-2031 housing element, Community Development Director Dina Tasini asked Crandall in January 2023 about adding the property, and the town listed it as Site H, one of 17 inventory sites, with a realistic capacity of 93 market-rate units; the environmental review assumed up to 118. The town needed sites for at least 639 units and listed sites for 692. On May 22, 2023 the town certified a program environmental impact report and adopted General Plan 2040, including the housing element. A neighborhood group, the Committee for Tiburon LLC, sued in Marin County Superior Court on June 23, 2023, arguing that the EIR had to analyze the site's specific impacts. HCD found the amended housing element in substantial compliance on October 18, 2023, and the town adopted an ordinance rezoning Site H on December 6, 2023. No housing project has been proposed for the site. On September 19, 2024 Judge Sheila Shah Lichtblau set aside portions of the EIR, the rezoning and the site's inclusion in the housing element, which The Ark reported left the town 40 units short of its minimum; HCD did not decertify the element. The council authorized an appeal in November 2024, and the Attorney General and HCD filed an amicus brief supporting the town, as did the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties. On February 2, 2026 the First District Court of Appeal reversed, holding in a published part of its opinion that a program EIR for a general plan need not analyze a housing element site where no housing project has been proposed. The California Supreme Court denied review on April 29, 2026. In unpublished parts of the opinion, the court sent the case back to Marin County Superior Court to decide whether the Site H rezoning is exempt from CEQA under Public Resources Code section 21080.085, a 2025 exemption (SB 131) for rezonings that carry out an HCD-approved housing element, and, if it is not, whether the program EIR covered it; the trial court must also decide whether General Plan 2040 is internally consistent. No ruling on those questions has been reported.
Court · City Council · California Court of Appeal (First District) · Judge Sheila Shah Lichtblau
| Date | Event | What the record shows |
|---|---|---|
| May 22, 2023 | Town Certifies General Plan EIR | The program EIR for General Plan 2040, which includes the housing element, studies 916 new units across the town's 17 housing sites without site-specific analysis. Court of Appeal opinion: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2026/a171983.html |
| June 23, 2023 | Neighbors Sue Over Paradise Drive Site | The group's spokesperson says the site is "unsuitable for more than four units of housing." The petition is later amended to challenge the rezoning. The Ark: https://www.thearknewspaper.com/live/residents-sue-tiburon-over-paradise-drive-housing-site |
| October 18, 2023 | State Certifies Tiburon Housing Element | HCD finds the element in substantial compliance after the town amended it on Sept. 20, 2023. Court of Appeal opinion: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2026/a171983.html |
| November 15, 2023 | Council Votes 4-0 To Rezone Site | Councilmember Isaac Nikfar abstains. The Ark reports that no development plans have been submitted for the site. The Ark: https://thearknewspaper.com/live/tiburon-nears-adoption-of-controversial-property-rezoning |
| December 6, 2023 | Town Adopts Site H Rezoning | The ordinance rezones the parcel for very high density residential use with a realistic capacity of 93 units. The committee amends its petition on Dec. 15 to challenge it. Court of Appeal opinion: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2026/a171983.html |
| July 17, 2024 | Judge Tentatively Rules for Neighbors | Before this hearing, Judge Sheila Shah Lichtblau issues a tentative ruling that the EIR "fails to include feasible analysis of the reasonably foreseeable impacts of adding 93-118 residential units." The Ark: https://www.thearknewspaper.com/live/judge-tentatively-rules-tiburon-housing-site-review-broke-law |
| September 19, 2024 | Judge Sets Aside Rezoning and Site Listing | The order sets aside portions of the EIR, the rezoning and the site's inclusion in the state-approved housing element. The Ark: https://thearknewspaper.com/live/judge-confirms-ruling-that-tiburon-study-for-housing-site-broke-law |
| August 22, 2025 | Attorney General and HCD Back Town on Appeal | Their amicus brief says the ruling "needlessly places the Town at risk of housing element decertification." The League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties file a brief the same day. California Attorney General: https://www.hcd.ca.gov/sites/default/files/docs/planning-and-community/doj-tiburon-amicus-brief.pdf |
| February 2, 2026 | Court of Appeal Reverses Trial Court | The court holds the program EIR adequate because "no housing project has been proposed for Site H," and sends two issues back to the trial court. Court of Appeal opinion: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2026/a171983.html |
| April 29, 2026 | Supreme Court Denies Review | The California Supreme Court denies a petition for review in the case (S295708). Supreme Court of California: https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/conference%20results%20-%20042926%20-%20R.pdf |
| Date | Body | Action | Vote | Staff rec. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 23, 2023 | Court | lawsuit filed | — | Unknown | Court of Appeal opinion: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2026/a171983.html |
| November 15, 2023 | City Council | approved | 4–0, 1 abstaining | Unknown | The Ark: https://thearknewspaper.com/live/tiburon-nears-adoption-of-controversial-property-rezoning |
| December 6, 2023 | City Council | approved | — | Unknown | Court of Appeal opinion: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2026/a171983.html |
| September 19, 2024 | Court | ruling issued | — | Unknown | The Ark: https://thearknewspaper.com/live/judge-confirms-ruling-that-tiburon-study-for-housing-site-broke-law |
| February 2, 2026 | Court | ruling issued | — | Unknown | Court of Appeal opinion: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2026/a171983.html |
| April 29, 2026 | Court | ruling issued | — | Unknown | Supreme Court of California: https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/supremecourt/default/documents/conference%20results%20-%20042926%20-%20R.pdf |
Rating 4 of 5. Primary records for the key facts; minor details may rest on reporting. Corrections: https://whokilledthebuilding.com/corrections.