Environmental Group Sues to Block Hoag Project

An environmental group has filed a lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission in an effort to reverse the panel’s approval in February of an expansion plan by Hoag Hospital.

The lawsuit contends that the commission should not have approved the 20-acre hospital development because the project is not consistent with the terms of the California Coastal Act, which was designed to protect and preserve wetlands. The development would result in the loss of about two acres of wetlands.

The suit was filed Monday in San Francisco Superior Court. Both the Coastal Commission and the plaintiff, the League for Coastal Protection, are based in San Francisco.

The suit comes two months after the commission voted 11 to 0 to allow the construction of various medical buildings and an outpatient center on the vacant land, nestled in a coastal bluff area below the hospital.

In approving the project, the commission set aside a report from its staff that recommended the project be rejected mainly because it would result in the loss of wetlands without offering sufficient mitigating action.

As part of the plan approved by the commission, Hoag Hospital did agree to pay for certain enhancements at a wetlands near UC Irvine.

Jan Vandersloot, a Newport Beach resident and member of the League for Coastal Protection, said Friday that the commission should have followed its staff’s recommendation and denied the hospital’s request.

Vandersloot said the wetlands, known as Cat-Tail Cove, are home to more than 50 species of animals and birds and to coastal sage scrub.

Officials with the Coastal Commission could not be reached for comment.

Stacey Broussard, a spokeswoman for Hoag Hospital, said that she is confident that the project will be built as scheduled.

“We are going to wait and see what the legal system does,” Broussard said. “We have all the (necessary) approvals. We feel confident about the approval the commission gave us.”