Save Our Access v. City of San Diego
Annotate this CaseThe City of San Diego (City) appealed a judgment entered in favor of Save Our Access on its petition for writ of mandate challenging the City’s approval of a 2020 ballot measure proposing amendments to the San Diego Municipal Code and a City ordinance to exclude the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan Area from the 30-foot height limit for construction of buildings within the City’s Coastal Zone. The superior court determined the City failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in approving the ballot measure because the administrative record did not support the City’s claim that a 2018 program environmental impact report for the Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan Update considered the environmental impacts associated with excluding the area from the City’s Coastal Zone height limit. The court also concluded the administrative record supported a fair argument that the ballot measure may have significant environmental impacts that were not previously examined. The court issued a writ of mandate directing the City to set aside its approvals of the ordinance that submitted the ballot measure to the voters and enjoined the City “from taking any steps to further the Project until lawful approval is obtained from the City.” Finding no reversible error, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's judgment.
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