Route 56 Foes Set Up Legal Roadblock

Angry North City West residents and the Del Mar Terrace Conservancy joined forces Wednesday to sue the San Diego City Council in an attempt to halt construction of the western end of proposed Route 56 through their community.

The suit challenges the council’s actions in certifying the environmental impact report for a 1.8-mile section of the proposed east-west freeway, which eventually will link inland Interstate 15 with Interstate 5 on the coast.

According to the suit, the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act by failing to study adequately other options for the freeway route. The present route travels through the Carmel Valley, through the middle of the fast-growing planned community of North City West near Del Mar.

Jerry Mailhot, chairman of the Carmel Valley Coalition, said the group has joined with the Del Mar Terrace Conservancy in its suit to halt construction of the freeway through Carmel Valley, site of the Penasquitos Lagoon. The Del Mar Terrace Conservancy is a 5-year-old nonprofit group that fights for the preservation of Penasquitos Lagoon; the Carmel Valley Coalition is a larger organization made up of several environmental groups.

The suit alleges that the city of San Diego also failed to follow state law by ignoring the impacts of other, related construction projects, including a $45-million interchange linking the proposed freeway to I-5, a multimillion-dollar I-5 widening project and the impacts of construction of the remaining 7 miles of Route 56 freeway and its link to Interstate 15.

John Reaves, attorney for the Del Mar Terrace Conservancy, said the group seeks a writ from the court that would force the City Council to rescind its approval of the western portion of Route 56 until it has studied other routes and has met Environmental Quality Act’s requirements in its environmental impact studies.

Reaves estimated that the matter could be heard by a Superior Court judge by October.

City Atty. John Witt said that he could not comment on the suit against the city because he had not yet seen a copy of the filing, but did say, “I am confident that what legal advice we have given the city in this matter has been appropriate.”

Mailhot said that the Carmel Valley Coalition also is planning to begin a referendum petition drive to have the freeway routing through Carmel Valley rescinded.

Mailhot explained that the roadway would cut through the center of North City West residential areas, causing noise and air pollution for abutting neighborhoods and spreading traffic congestion through the entire community because only partial ramps will be built to link Interstate 5 and the new freeway.

The referendum drive cannot start until the San Diego City Council votes final adoption of the ordinance on the Route 56 alignment, an action expected June 18, Mailhot said.

The group plans to collect at least 45,000 signatures of registered San Diego city voters, although only about 28,500 are needed to qualify the referendum. If an adequate number of qualified signatures are gathered, the City Council will be forced to rescind the ordinance or to place it on the November ballot to be decided by a citywide vote.