Council Balks at Adopting Miramar Lake Pact

San Diego Councilwoman Linda Bernhardt and developer Corky McMillin unveiled a proposal Tuesday that both described as a workable solution to a longstanding disagreement over how to develop the north shore of Miramar Lake.

However, during a lengthy closed session, council members declined to accept the agreement, at least at this time.

“There is no authorization for a settlement,” Mayor Maureen O’Connor said after the closed hearing. “There was not five votes for a settlement.”

Councilman Ron Roberts described the proposed settlement agreement, which was submitted to the council shortly before noon, “as one of the more complex, the most complex we have ever had here . . . there is a great deal at stake for the city of San Diego.”

The council agreed during Tuesday’s secret session to take public testimony on the proposed settlement at a Sept. 18 hearing. The accord, if accepted by council, evidently would end a federal lawsuit that McMillin brought against the city two months ago in order to overturn an emergency ordinance that restricted development at the lake’s northern shore.

Bernhardt said at at press conference that the proposed settlement agreement would protect the environmental concerns of area residents, help to build desperately needed public facilities such as roads and schools and allow McMillin and his partners to build a profitable development.

McMillin, president of McMillin Development, described the plan as a “balanced financial plan that gives us the ability” to make a profit as well as pay for needed public facilities. McMillin also described the plan as “much, much more desirable” from an environmental perspective.

Although specifics of the proposed settlement were not released, it would eliminate a controversial industrial park planned for the northwest corner of the lake. Total open space would be increased to 268 acres, up from 168 acres, and only about 60 homes would be visible from the lake shore, down from the 700 that would have been visible from the shore if a past development plan had been followed.

The plan drew praise from Gary Underwood, founder of the Save the Lake Committee, a public-interest group that formed nearly two years ago to oppose McMillin’s initial development plan.

“I support the compromise development agreement,” Underwood said. “It will help to provide adequate facilities for the community and a fair and reasonable profit” for McMillin, he said.

Mark Sorensen, president of the Scripps Ranch Assn., said he was “greatly encouraged” by the proposed agreement. He said it would help Scripps Ranch develop urgently needed “roads, schools and other facilities.”

McMillin urged the council to act swiftly on the settlement agreement. “I could receive information that financing on this project (has been canceled),” McMillin told the council. “You could have on your hands the destiny that this project might not go forward.”

“This is a project I can make work today,” McMillin said. “I don’t know if I can make it work 30 days from now.”