Environmental Group Stops Navy’s Auction of 47 Acres at Miramar

The Navy canceled the auction of part of Miramar Naval Air Station Friday after environmental groups brought suit requiring that the Navy prepare an environmental impact statement before selling what they believe is a “living laboratory” of endangered and sensitive plants and animals.

The Navy had described the 47-acre parcel situated north of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard in Tierrasanta as a “prime piece of manufacturing-industrial-commercial land” in advertising for Tuesday’s auction.

The lawsuit was filed by four environmental groups and four San Diego State University professors who have used the mesas, canyons and vernal pools of the area to study sensitive plants such as the San Diego barrel cactus, the San Diego sunflower and the mesa mint. Environmentally sensitive animal species on the land include the San Diego coast horned lizard and the California black-tailed gnatcatcher, according to the lawsuit.

“The development within that parcel would inevitably lead to the degradation of the existing vernal pools and mound areas,” said Greg Cox, SDSU biology professor and a plaintiff in the suit. “You really couldn’t have major development in there and sustain that natural environment for a long period of time.”

The Navy announced its intention to cancel the sale while appearing in front of U.S. Magistrate Barry Moskowitz, said Michael Aguirre, the San Diego attorney for the environmental groups.

“We believe a properly prepared (environmental impact statement) would result in finding that the sale of the property for industrial and manufacturing use would be so inconsistent that that would not be an appropriate use of the land,” Aguirre said.

An environmental statement would include consultation with the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife and environmental groups, Aguirre said.

Although the Navy has postponed the sale of the property, it has yet to decide whether to prepare an EIS. Proceeds of the sale were to help buy or build housing units for Navy personnel in San Diego, according to a statement released by the Navy.

The statement further said that the Navy originally intended to sell 125 acres of the 215-acre site at Miramar but pared the site down to 47 acres because of environmental concerns.

The statement noted that mesa mint, an endangered plant, does not live in the 47 acres to be sold, but that vernal pools on the land provide a “potential habitat” for the plant.

There were 1,700 people who requested invitations for bids on the property, said Fabian Huey of the General Services Administration, which was to have conducted the auction. The auction required a bid deposit of $300,000, but the value of the land was undetermined.