San Diego-Area EIR Ruling Could Slow Development

A judge ruled that construction on a 536-unit housing development, planned on the site of a former golf course near San Diego, can’t continue until an environmental analysis is completed, agreeing with a claim that the original review did not take into account other proposed developments that would draw on the same infrastructure and resources. David Garrick reports on the story for the San Diego Union Tribune.

As Garrick explains, “The resident group that had sued to stop the Junipers called the ruling a victory for San Diego’s neighborhoods because it will require developers to provide more robust mitigation when they build impactful, dense projects.” The group wants the developer to pay for the construction of more fire evacuation routes.

“If the ruling isn’t overturned on appeal, attorneys for Lennar and the city say it could have far-reaching impacts on how government agencies must analyze the effects dense housing projects might have on traffic, noise and wildfire threats.” The ruling could make the process much more cumbersome if EIRs had to be revised when new projects were proposed, lawyers for the developer argued, and could impact the rate of development in San Diego County, where housing costs, like elsewhere in coastal California, are on the rise.