The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor’s environmental review and approval of Mission Village was affirmed by California Second Appellate District judges Tuesday.

Mission Village is part of the Newhall Land’s proposed Newhall Ranch community.

A June 2014 ruling by L.A. Superior Court, Hon. John A. Torribio, that upheld the Mission Village Environmental Impact Report, or EIR, and other land use permits, was unanimously affirmed by a three-justice panel of the Second District Court of Appeal.

The permits were originally approved by L.A. County in spring 2012.

The appellate court acted on a lawsuit brought by plaintiffs — the California Native Plant Society, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Santa Clara River, Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment and other environmental groups.

SCOPE’s concerns about the project is water use, loss of floodplains and groundwater recharge areas and greenhouse gases, said Lynne Plambeck, SCOPE’s president.

The argument the plaintiffs had were that the county failed to sufficiently analyze the project’s compliance with the county’s Development Monitoring System as it relates to water supplies and sewer capacity, but the appellate court rejected all such claims, said Newhall Land officials.

Newhall Land and Farming Co. claims that there will be no significant increase in greenhouse gases for the 21,000 unit project, according to SCOPE officials in a news release.

“The greenhouse gas issue is especially important as it may set a precedent for other cases in California,” said SCOPE officials in a news release.

SCOPE and other plaintiffs are planning to petition the supreme court, said Plambeck.

The plaintiffs’ claim that the EIR failed to properly analyze sediment and beach replenishment issues were also rejected by the appellate court, Newhall Land officials said.

The EIR’s analysis of impacts and mitigation to the slender mariposa lily and to the project’s greenhouse gas emissions analysis was upheld by the appellate court, said Newhall Land officials.

The plaintiffs’ claim that the EIR failed to analyze and mitigate copper runoff impacts on juvenile steelhead, or trout, was also rejected by the court.

Division 5 of the California Second Appellate Court has not ruled for any conservation groups for the past 20 years, said Plambeck.

The Court of Appeal rejected each argument presented by the plaintiffs, finding that the county had acted appropriately and with substantial evidence to approve the detailed EIR and related mitigation measures in its 72-page opinion, said Newhall Land officials.

“As an owner of a company that is building master planned communities in California, we value our partnership with the county of Los Angeles,” said Emile Haddad, president and CEO of Five Point Communities, the development manager for Newhall Land. “Today, the County’s exhaustive environmental review was affirmed by the Court of Appeal to have been completed diligently and properly. We are thankful for the County’s efforts and look forward to implementing the plans for Mission Village. We also appreciate the Court’s diligence in carefully deciding each of the legal issues presented.”

About Mission Village

Mission Village is located south of State Route 126 and includes a mix of residential, commercial, and non-residential uses, including 4,055 residential homes, 1.56 million square feet of mixed-use commercial space, an elementary school, a fire station, a public library, a bus transfer station, parks with a variety of sports fields and playgrounds, open space, natural habitat preserves and trails.

It is part of Newhall Ranch’s Specific Plan, which has undergone over 15 years of environmental review by the county, state and federal agencies.

At build out, the Newhall Ranch villages will bring tens of thousands of development-related and permanent jobs to the region, according to Newhall Land officials.

The specific plan also calls for over 11,000 acres of protected open space, 60 miles of trails, several public schools and community infrastructure, including a water recycling plant, fire stations, a public library and a sheriff station.