Mojonnier Asks Panel to Delay Rt. 56 Hearing : Highways: Foes of the proposed link between I-15 and I-5 want the Coastal Commission to delay the session so the issue can be heard in San Diego.

Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas) on Friday joined foes of proposed Route 56 in asking the state Coastal Commission to delay a September hearing on the highway link until it can be held in San Diego.

Mojonnier, in a letter to Coastal Commission Chairman Michael Wornum, pointed out that Route 56, which would link Interstate 15 in Rancho Penasquitos with Interstate 5 on the coast at Del Mar, “is a controversial proposal that generated a standing-room-only audience before the San Diego City Council,” and said the hearing should not be held at the commission’s Marina del Rey meeting in September.

“Barring a pressing need to move forward, postponement of the commission hearing on this matter until your next San Diego session (scheduled for December) would best serve the public interest,” Mojonnier said.

Mojonnier’s office received hundreds of calls and letters protesting the placing of the controversial highway routing on the commission’s Sept. 11-14 meeting schedule. Many pointed out that zoning action requested by the Coastal Commission on the highway project had been rescinded by the San Diego City Council, putting the legality of the project in question.

Jerry Mailhot, one of the leaders of the Carmel Valley Coalition, which led a successful referendum petition drive opposing construction of the road through Carmel Valley, said that, if the hearing were held in September at a place other than San Diego, “many people who are opposed to this project would not be able to testify.”

The Carmel Valley Coalition led a petition-gathering campaign that forced the City Council to rescind action that zoned stretches of the western end of the route.

A regional Coastal Commission staff member said Friday that the September agenda for the state commission meeting “is still subject to change,” and that a firm decision on the agenda will not be made until Monday or Tuesday.

The staff member said the city of San Diego could request a delay in the hearing, but the commission is required to hear matters “in a timely manner” and cannot delay a hearing without proper authority.

Also tentatively scheduled for the September session of the state commission is the state Department of Transportation project widening I-5 in the Del Mar area from eight to 16 lanes.

Carmel Valley Coalition members are seeking to detour Route 56 to the south so that it does not pass through residential neighborhoods of North City West and sensitive wetlands. Moving the western alignment of Route 56 to the south would require redesign of the I-5 widening project in the same area.