COUNTY DELAYS HEARINGS ON MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS DUE TO SIERRA CLUB LAWSUIT

By Miriam Raftery

November 15, 2018 (San Diego) -- On Tuesday, San Diego County announced that several proposed General Plan Amendments to allow construction of massive development projects will not be heard by the Board of Supervisors in 2018 due to litigation over the County’s climate action plan and a court injunction.  Projects with hearings postponed include Lilac Hills Ranch, Otay Village 14, Planning Areas 16 and 19, Warner Ranch, and Property Specific Requests.

The Sierra Club in San Diego took legal action to stop Supervisors from using what the environmental group called “their faulty Greenhouse Gas offset proposal that allows developers to purchase carbon credits anywhere in the world – without oversight or any guarantee to lessen the impacts of climate change.  This goes against the County's Climate Action Plan that requires Greenhouse Gas to be lowered in the County, not somewhere else.”

The court agreed and issued a stay barring the County from using its new Greenhouse Gas offset proposal.

Richard Miller, director of the Sierra Club’s San Diego Chapter, states in an email to supporters, “We continue to challenge the County to adopt a meaningful Climate Action Plan. The Sierra Club has now brought three lawsuits against the County for its failure to comply with the commitment the County made in 2011 to significantly reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions in the County.