Lawsuits Filed Against San Diego and One Paseo Project Developer

Suits Contend Project’s Environmental Impact Report Flawed

Two lawsuits were filed on April 8th in efforts to halt the controversial One Paseo Project. In the first, three community groups sued the City of San Diego over the flawed environmental impact report (EIR).

The second suit was filed by the owner of Del Mar Highlands Town Center against the City and Kilroy Realty Corporation, the project’s developer. It also challenges the validity of the EIR prepared for the development.

Both suits contend that the vote of approval of the project was based on an EIR that was not adequate.

In the first suit, three community groups – the Alliance for Responsible Development, the East Bluff Community Association, and Mitigate One Paseo –  are composed of residents who are very concerned about the impact of the project on their communities, and about traffic and safety impacts.

The second suit was initiated by Donahue Schriber, the owner of Del Mar Highlands Town Center – a short distance from the proposed site of One Paseo.

One Paseo is also the subject of a referendum campaign currently underway.

“One Paseo’s environmental documents are riddled with flaws and inconsistencies,” said Josh Chatten-
Brown, an attorney with the firm  handling the suit by the community groups.  He stated in a press release:

“There are several instances where improper assumptions are made to reduce the reported severity of impacts on the surrounding communities. The Environmental Impact Report does not provide the objective, good faith analysis of impacts, alternatives, and mitigation measures that is required by California law.”

 More was stated by William Bibb, President of Alliance for Responsible Development:

“As a long term resident of Carmel Valley and San Diego County, I am concerned about protecting the quality of life in our communities. We cannot allow developers to come into our community and create density without first providing convenient access to an established network of public transportation.

Such access is the key element of both Smart Growth and transit-oriented development (“TOD”) policies aimed at reducing reliance on automobile traffic with harmful greenhouse emissions and unhealthful particulates.

Further, our state is facing an historic drought of Biblical proportions. It is clear that the necessary water infrastructure does not exist to cope with fantasies of unlimited growth.”

 The other group involved in the suit – the East Bluff Community Association – has its president, one Janie Emerson. Emerson stated:

“My biggest concern is that the City Council’s vote totally negated the vibrant community planning process that took place in Del Mar Valley. This should be a major concern to every resident in the City of San Diego. If our City Council can totally ignore the wishes of the community and completely trample their community planning process as it did here, then this can happen in any neighborhood.”

The suit by Donahue Schriber zeros in on what is alleged is the inadequacy of the EIR and its “failure to accurately identify project impacts and propose mitigation measures adequate for offsetting these effects.”

It is also contended in a press statement that:

“the City violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in approving the One Paseo project and its EIR and failed to follow the mandatory procedural requirements of CEQA, adequately evaluate the environmental impacts of the project, adequately evaluate feasible alternatives, and impose adequate and feasible mitigation measures to reduce the project’s environmental impacts.” 

Background on One Paseo

The One Paseo project would be the largest mixed use development in California without mass transit.  As proposed, the massive project includes a 1.45-million-square-foot development of residential, office and retail uses. The development has been criticized for significant alterations to the community plan and zoning laws, and there are wide concerns about traffic impacts, due to estimates that it will generate nearly five times the traffic on area roadways which are planned to accommodate it.

Other criticized impacts include the introduction of 150-foot towers in a community largely comprised of one- and two-story homes and low-rise office buildings, its failure to comply with the General Plan’s City of Villages growth strategy, which calls for the development of neighborhood-serving and transit-oriented villages that cater to local community needs.

Proposed by Los Angeles-based developer Kilroy Realty, One Paseo has been the subject of intense opposition from the local community since the Draft EIR was released in 2010. Since then, serious concerns have been raised about its significant impacts and the inadequacies within the report.

The suit asserts that despite receiving more than 400 comments on the draft report, the EIR was not revised to address concerns

• about traffic impacts,
• safety,
• the compatibility with the surrounding development,
• aesthetic and air quality impacts, especially from the removal of mature trees that would be required to widen Del Mar Heights Road,
• an insecure water supply,
• increased noise,
• and conflicts with the City’s General and local land use plans.Donahue Schriber Files Lawsuit to Challenge