August 13, 2024 - SAN DIEGO— A judge has ruled against a development project on the outskirts of San Diego County following the city of Santee’s latest attempt to greenlight 3,000 homes in a state-designated very high fire hazard severity zone.

The San Diego Superior Court on Friday invalidated Santee’s approval of the development because it was inconsistent with its general plan and violated the state’s environmental protection laws.

“The court rightly rejected the city’s attempt to ram through the Fanita Ranch project without considering the dangers of developing in a wildfire-prone zone,” said John Buse, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This decision is a victory for the exceptionally diverse wildlife here and for neighboring residents who won’t face an increased risk of wildfire ignition now that this project is again blocked.”

The court has repeatedly rejected the Fanita Ranch project, which would bring nearly 10,000 new residents to an area that has burned 65 times in the past 100 years.

Santee residents qualified a referendum to place the Fanita Ranch project on the ballot and voters approved an initiative that would require projects that need a general plan amendment like Fanita Ranch be placed on the ballot. But instead of putting the project up for a vote, the city in 2022 revised its environmental review of the project and approved it.

In its latest decision, the court ruled that the city’s scheme to avoid a vote for this risky and unpopular project violated state election laws.

“We are pleased that the court saw through this transparent end run on the rights of Santee voters,” said Dan Silver, director of Endangered Habitats League. “Future development proposals for this property needs to be submitted to the voters.”

The project site is a biologically diverse hotspot with Quino checkspot butterflies, California gnatcatchers, Crotch’s bumblebees and other sensitive species.

“This ruling is another huge setback to the city’s attempts to develop the rich wildlife habitat and very high fire hazard area of Fanita Ranch,” said Van Collinsworth of Preserve Wild Santee. “All of these attempts have failed for at least a quarter century. It’s time to put this dangerous project proposal to rest once and for all.”

The court ruling is in response to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Preserve Wild Santee, California Chaparral Institute and Endangered Habitats League.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity