Background
The Superior Court of California, County of Yolo consisted of seven separate facilities. These facilities poorly served the growing needs of the county's residents, and the lack of consolidated facilities exacerbated the functional problems of the court facilities. The main courthouse was the historic Woodland Courthouse, constructed in 1917 as a shared court and county facility and now on the National Register of Historic Places. The county vacated the building in 1985 except for the district attorney's office--which remained in the building until 1993.
The historic courthouse was renovated as the court had grown and then housed eight marginal courtrooms. The facility had significant security problems, severe accessibility deficiencies, was very overcrowded, and had many physical problems, preventing the court from providing safe and efficient services to the public. To meet current space needs, the court operated five other facilities, many with courtrooms, spread throughout the downtown Woodland area.
The new 14-courtroom, 163,000-square-foot facility replaced all seven court facilities in Yolo County. The county retained title to the historic courthouse and occupied the building when the court vacated the space.
The new courthouse is in downtown Woodland, in the city block bounded by Main, Fifth, and Sixth Streets and Lincoln Avenue. The Woodland Redevelopment Agency expedited the state’s purchase of the land to create a convenient, accessible location for the new courthouse. The Judicial Council also acquired parking lots from Union Pacific Railroad within proximity of the new courthouse.
Timeline
February 16, 2010 to March 18, 2010: Draft report circulated.
February 24, 2010: Public meeting held.
After receiving public comments, the Judicial Council completed a Final Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (10 MB)
On April 20, 2010, the Judicial Council filed a Notice of Determination, completing the CEQA process.
On August 4, 2009, the JCC filed a Notice of Determination, thereby completing the CEQA process.
CEQA
The Judicial Council is the lead agency responsible for CEQA compliance. A Mitigated Negative Declaration was prepared for the project.
