City staff told the Yorba Linda City Council on June 17, 2025, that a Builder’s Remedy application has been submitted for the Bryant Ranch Center and that the applicant has challenged the city’s determination by asserting the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Nate Farnsworth, the city’s community development director, said state housing law allows applicants to assert exemptions in some circumstances and to challenge local CEQA determinations under the Housing Accountability Act. "The applicant of this project is trying to propose that this project should be exempt from CEQA," Farnsworth said. "We disagree with that, and so the applicant is able to... submit a challenge, essentially, to our determination."

Farnsworth said the city has posted the CEQA notice and will conduct an internal review over a 60‑day period to analyze environmental concerns and collect public input. "All projects that are considered by the city have to be reviewed for their environmental impacts," he added. The city will consider public comments and its own analysis and then determine whether the project must undergo further CEQA review or may be treated as exempt.

City Attorney Todd Lifton told the council the notices were legally required and are intended to gather information for the city’s environmental review. "The notices that went out to the community... were legally required to send that under the government code, and it's really just an opportunity for the community to give us input as to any potential concerns about the project that could fall within the ambit of CEQA for our information and our review," Lifton said.

Council Member Hussain asked staff to explain the CEQA notice in plain language for residents; staff said new information is most helpful and that past comments submitted during the housing‑element process remain part of the record but that the city would prioritize new evidence or changed circumstances.

No formal council decision was taken on the Bryant Ranch application at the meeting. Staff instructed the public that written comments and any new, project‑specific information should be submitted during the posted review period so the city can include them in its 60‑day analysis.