SIERRA CLUB SUES TO BLOCK GREENHILLS RANCH HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN LAKESIDE OVER WILDFIRE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
By Miriam RafteryJuly 17, 2024 (Lakeside) – After San Diego County Supervisors unanimously approved the Greenhills Ranch housing development in Lakeside near Lake Jennings, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the County and Atlas Real Estate seeking to block the project.
“Greenhills Ranch is textbook wasteful urban sprawl development on open space in a fire prone area,” says David Hogan, legal committee chair for Sierra Club’s San Diego chapter. “Sierra Club supports real infill projects that are close to transportation services and include affordable housing. This project does neither.”
The environmental group contends that the county erred in calling the project “infill” in order to justify approval. Instead, the suit contends the project will add to traffic congestion and air pollution, also putting residents at increased risk of wildfires.
California courts have recently blocked several other sprawling housing developments in rural areas, citing heightened fire danger, most recently land in Proctor Valley slated for Otay Ranch Housing that has since been protected as open space through a land swap.
Sierra Club’s suit argues that the Greenhills Ranch project would also endanger the coastal cactus wren, gnatcatchers and other rare species within the Lake Jennings/Wildcat Canyon Biological Resources Core Area.
Noting that San Diego County is a biodiversity hotspot and that the county has established conservation goals, Sierra Club chapter president Lisa Ross said,”Greenhills Ranch would violate not just the spirit, but the law protecting San Diego’s unique habitat.”
Greenfield Ranch, proposed by Atlas Real Estate, would include 63 single-family homes built on 17 acres of the 36-acre site, with 9 acres dedicated as open space and the rest reserved for slopes, detention basins and limited building zones.
Atlas issued this statement: “The unanimous vote by the planning commission and Board of Supervisors supports that we’ve addressed all the concerns that the Sierra Club raised,” 10 News reports.
The County does not comment on pending litigation. A planning commission report found that the project would not significantly impact residents evacuating the area in the event of a fire, and concluded that the site has adequate fire evacuation routes, water access and emergency services.