The Sierra Club is suing the County of San Diego over a controversial development that promises more than 450 homes in the North County.
“Well, it’s just the worst possible kind of development,” said Dave Hogan, the volunteer chair of the Sierra Club San Diego Chapter’s legal committee.
The Sierra Club and many people who live in and around the Elfin Forest opposed plans to build 453 homes on 111 acres in the Harmony Grove Village South development, which is just south of San Marcos and west of Escondido.
“It’ll convert this very rural scenic area into what we’re seeing behind me: More urban sprawl development near Escondido,” said Hogan as he pointed toward hundreds of two-story homes across the valley.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the development in October despite a wave of opposition.
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“We were appalled. This is a terrible decision,” sighed Hogan.
He said the Sierra Club filed another lawsuit against the project last week, accusing the county of violating CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act.
“The county did not follow state law when they considered how far people will have to drive from here, either to get to transit or to their jobs,” he explained.
Hogan argues the people who would buy the houses in Harmony Grove Village South likely won’t work nearby and will instead travel dozens of miles away for work. The Sierra Club previously sued the developers and county because the area is prone to wildfires.
“This is a wildfire death trap,” Hogan said. “And people here will be put in enormous risk.”
The Cocos fire plowed through the area in 2014. Yet, the Board of Supervisors still approved of the project, listing the need for housing as one of their reasons. Hogan doesn’t buy it.
“It’s an absolute myth that San Diego just has some broad housing crisis. We have an affordable housing crisis,” he declared. “San Diego needs homes that are affordable to the majority of people that live here, and this project certainly will not provide those homes.”
A spokesman for the Harmony Grove Village South Development team declined comment on the new lawsuit. The County of San Diego declined to comment as well.
“We hope to actually stop this project in its tracks,” concluded Hogan.
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