Can a court grant relief for failure to file a timely hearing request for a CEQA challenge?

The decision of whether to grant relief for the failure to file a timely hearing request implicates two competing public policiesthe strong preference for a trial on the merits and the policy favoring expeditious review of CEQA challenges. The preference for trial on the merits is well established. ( Zamora v. Clayborn Contracting Group, Inc. (2002) 28 Cal.4th 249, 255, 121 Cal.Rptr.2d 187, 47 P.3d 1056 [ It is well settled that appellate courts have always been and are favorably disposed toward such action upon the part of the trial courts as will permit, rather than prevent, the adjudication of

[219 Cal.App.4th 1132]