$115,439.46 Fee Request Rebuffed.
In Chollas Restoration, Enhancement and Conservancy Community Development Corp. v. City of San Diego, Case No. D057460 (4th Dist., Div. 1 July 14, 2011) (unpublished), plaintiff won a petition, not on substantive grounds, but on the fact that publication was one day short on a draft mitigated negative declaration. Plaintiff then moved to recover $115,439.46 under California’s private attorney general statute, a request denied by the trial court.
Result affirmed. Denial of fees where plaintiff prevailed only on a technical point about lack of public notice did justify the conclusion that plaintiff was not a “successful party” under CCP § 1021.5. (Stevens v. City of Glendale, 125 Cal.App.3d 986, 1000 (1981).) Nothing indicated that plaintiff’s petition was a catalyst for future action, so no abuse of discretion was shown here on the fee denial.