A local committee will file a major lawsuit against the city today that will challenge the council’s September 12th approval of the 12-story, 96-condo 301 University project.“Unfortunately, our Hillcrest community cannot rely on our elected city officials to look after the best interests of our neighborhood,” says John Taylor of Save Hillcrest. “We have to instead rely on the courts to enforce the laws that govern and protect our unique neighborhood.”
Their lawsuit alleges that the project “will cause unmitigated adverse impacts to the one to three-story surrounding neighborhood, streets, cafes and public access due to its height, bulk, shadows, additional traffic and lack of committed public facilities (parks).” It also claims that, by approving the project, the “city has improperly applied state environmental-protection laws, the city’s own community plan, zoning ordinances and development requirements.”
The Superior Court is being asked to issue a Writ of Mandate declaring the city council decision null and void. The lawsuit also asks the court to order the city to prepare an Environmental Impact Report should the developers wish to pursue the project. The court is also being asked to issue a stay of the September 12th decision until the plaintiff’s claims may be adjudicated by the court. Also included in the 85 sections of the lawsuit are issues of increased traffic congestion; miscalculation of allowed residential density; the unlawful gift of public land by abandonment of an alley; violations of the Public Records Act and violations of local variance laws. The lawsuit also covers issues beyond the Hillcrest project by asking the court to require changes in the city’s development approval process.
Contact John Taylor at (619) 997-5299 for more information or to make a donation to the lawsuit fund. Checks should be made out to Friends of San Diego with “301 University” noted on the memo line.
