San Diego

A leader of the Building Industry Assn. on Wednesday likened the environmental controls proposed by a citizens growth-control committee to a “neutron bomb of planning” because it “kills the people and saves the environment.”

Robert Morris, the BIA’s executive vice president, said a proposal to protect environmentally sensitive lands would, if adopted by San Diegans, spell economic disaster and invite lawsuits by landowners who feel deprived of their rights to develop their property.

“I think there will be suits, because the way this is being crafted, it is depriving people of private property rights, big and small,” Morris said.

Morris’ remarks were in reference to a proposal by the Citizens Advisory Committee on Growth and Development that would place restrictions on the kinds of development allowed on hillsides, flood plains and other environmentally sensitive areas.

The proposal is part of a package of recommendations the committee will forward to the City Council this month. The council plans to make modifications before putting the growth-management plan on the November ballot for voter approval.

Ironically, most of the environmental controls approved by the committee have been sponsored by prominent land-use attorneys and developers. Environmentalists have accused the development interests on the panel of watering down the sensitive-lands protections to the advantage of builders.

Morris agreed Wednesday that the same people who are writing the environmental controls are also active in the BIA. He said he did not talk to those development-industry representatives before issuing his statement at a press conference. He also said he does not intend to repeat his statement to the committee during public testimony before the city panel.