Preserve Calavera files lawsuit over Quarry Creek
By Phil Diehl, May 9, 2013

CARLSBAD — Local environmental group Preserve Calavera has filed a lawsuit against Carlsbad over the city’s approval of the planned Quarry Creek housing development.

Everett DeLano, Preserve Calavera’s attorney, said Thursday afternoon that the lawsuit filed in Vista Superior Court alleges the city failed to correctly prepare its environmental review for the project and then failed to address problems identified in the review, such as increased traffic on nearby streets and delayed emergency response times.

The goal of the lawsuit, DeLano said, is not to stop the development, but to reduce the number of homes and keep construction off the environmentally sensitive portions of the property.

The project calls for 656 apartments and condominiums to be built on a former rock quarry and adjacent undeveloped land along the southern side of state Route 78 west of College Boulevard.

Carlsbad spokeswoman Kristina Ray said Thursday that city officials had not yet seen the suit.

“The city has not been served, and so we would not be able to provide any response until we see the lawsuit,” Ray said.

The Carlsbad City Council approved the Quarry Creek project on April 2, saying the development would provide affordable housing that the city needs. Several council members commented that the project is well planned and meets the needs of the community.

Opponents have said the McMillin Homes project would put too many homes on the 156-acre site, would bring too much traffic to College Boulevard, and would destroy sensitive biological and cultural resources.

Preserve Calavera sent a formal letter to the city earlier this week alleging that the council had violated the state’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, by discussing the project in closed meetings without notifying the public. Mayor Matt Hall responded that the city has done nothing improper.

Diane Nygaard, president of Preserve Calavera, said Thursday in the news release that the city’s approval of the project with all 656 homes proposed by the developer left the group with “no choice” but to file the lawsuit.

“We spent years trying to reach a compromise that would preserve the heart of this valley, allow the city of Carlsbad to meet their requirements for affordable housing, and provide a reasonable profit for the developer,” Nygaard said. She said the city’s approval “felt like a knife in the heart of anyone who cares” about preserving the property.

The site is adjacent to the historic Marron Adobe residence and includes a recently restored stretch of Buena Vista Creek and the El Salto Falls, which is considered sacred by local Native Americans.

“These are priceless natural, cultural and historical resources,” Nygaard said in the release. “There is nowhere else with this unique combination of resources that is so tied to the fabric of a community and local sense of place. It is worth preserving.”

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