Organization Seeks Revocation of Permit for Wildlife Tunnel

An environmental organization on Monday asked a San Diego City Council committee to revoke the permit for construction of a “wildlife corridor” for mule deer, bobcat, coyotes and other animals in Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve.

The group, Friends of Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, contends that Genstar Southwest Development Inc. began grading the planned corridor, a narrow slice in a ridge linking two canyons, for the sole purpose of claiming a “vested” interest in a related residential project.

The city granted a construction permit for the work, which began April 17, but halted it April 30 after an appeal was filed by the group. The group is asking the City Council’s Transportation and Land Use Committee to revoke the permit, saying it was issued prematurely. The committee delayed action until June 8.

Conflicting Testimony

At stake is a 248-acre, 1,400-unit residential development that Genstar wants to build on Lopez Ridge, adjacent to the preserve, east of Interstate 805, between Sorrento Valley Boulevard and Mira Mesa.

In a hearing filled with conflicting testimony, Councilwomen Abbe Wolfsheimer, Judy McCarty and Celia Ballesteros heard the Friends object to the work on the corridor, calling it a “subterfuge” by Genstar.

According to Friends member Leo Wilson, the developer must begin work on the project before May 31 or request an extension of its California Coastal Commission permit to build the residential project.

“The reason they don’t want to go before the Coastal Commission for an extension is that we will challenge it,” Wilson said. “Two years ago the City Council changed its local Coastal Program.”

If the development has to go before the Coastal Commission again, part of it will be in violation of the revised plan, Wilson said.

“They’re trying to say they started building (the larger project) and they don’t need an extension,” Wilson said. “That project isn’t going in for another two years.”

The Friends maintain that a permit cannot be issued before the tentative maps for the entire development have been completed and an environmental impact report is completed. The group also says the choice of the particular site for the wildlife crossing is inappropriate.

Alan R. Perry, an attorney for Genstar, said construction of the 160-foot-long, 15-foot-high tunnel that would link Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve and Lopez Canyon was begun “several months” before the residential construction, to let animals get used to the new corridor.

Several opponents of the project said the Genstar corridor was not located in an ideal place for animal use.

John Northrup, who said he had ridden horses through the canyons for 15 years, claimed to have “never, ever seen signs of any animal” near the proposed underground crossing.

Report Recommended Tunnel

Perry acknowledged that the $400,000 tunnel was not Genstar’s idea, but was recommended by an environmental impact report to “mitigate” the residential development’s impact on area wildlife. He argued that, for the tunnel to work, it would have to be built before construction of the residential project.

At issue is grading begun April 17 on Lopez Ridge, an area east of Sorrento Valley Boulevard. On April 27, Genstar sent a letter to Charles Damm of the Coastal Commission, citing the expense of the grading for the animal corridor and claiming a vested interest in the project.

If Genstar becomes vested in the development, it will not require an extension later this month when its Coastal Commission project permit lapses.

Wilson and other members of Friends of Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve filed an appeal with the city’s Planning Department on April 28. The city ordered the grading of 100,000 cubic yards of dirt stopped on April 30 but not before about 20 acres were denuded, environmentalists say.