San Marcos residents get armed with legal advice

North County Times

By Ned Randolph

January 18, 2007

LAKE SAN MARCOS ---- With several large land-use projects on the horizon, the Lake San Marcos Task Force held an environmental impact report workshop Thursday to train residents how to read plans submitted by developers and follow the process.

About 30 people, many of them activists in the community who regularly attend City Council sessions and various hearings, met at the Lake San Marcos Resort & Country Club for a two-hour seminar by environmental attorney Marco Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, who grew up in North County and lives in Solana Beach, told the audience about the importance of certain deadlines, how to read technical studies and ---- what he said was the largest lesson of all ---- that developments are political.

"If you ever want to be successful, you're not going to do it by commenting on EIRs," he said referring to the environmental impact reports that usually accompany large projects by developers. "You either do it through lawsuits or end up donating money, training, and electing candidates who think and breathe like you. Otherwise you're just fighting the battle."

The task force invited residents from around the region. Among those present were some from Elfin Forest concerned about a large residential project proposed there. Others were concerned about the 2,700-home Stonegate Merriam project off Deer Springs Road, the H.G. Fenton University Park project proposed off Discovery Street, and the city-led San Marcos Creek project.

"I don't consider myself an activist, I'm just not apathetic," said Jamie Wetzel, who runs the Web site forum Savediscovery.org, which tracks the University Park project. "In the old days this is what people did with their evenings."

Many residents of the Lake San Marcos area, for instance, have said that the water quality of the lake will be harmed by storm runoff from the new ridgeline developments and by the Creekside project that will rechannel San Marcos Creek, which directly feeds the lake.

Developments outside the city "are about the county supervisors making a deal with developers and trying to get away with as much as they can without someone calling them out," said Gonzalez.

During the workshop, Gonzalez explained how lead agencies are chosen, and how the California Environmental Quality Act affects projects and allows the public opportunities to weigh in on projects that affect the quality of life of their communities.

"At the end of the day, CEQA does not tell decision makers they have to do one thing or another. It provides accountability so you can vote them out of office," Gonzalez said.

The public must hold developers accountable to do what they promised or developers cut corners, he said.

"I've processed projects ---- you cut corners," he said. "It's extremely difficult to comply with CEQA on every level. Often it's a house of cards. You pull one, and they all fall."

He also said that internal staff reports are public records and subject to scrutiny even before a project goes out for public review.

"Everything is public," he said, with the exception of personnel records and certain files for indictments. "If you want to know where the mayor spends his day ---- send in a Public Records Act request for his schedule."

He also said that despite statements that public comments will only be accepted within 30 days of disclosure of certain documents, such as notice of preparation and environmental impact reports, the public may comment at any time before the project is approved. Those comments are submitted into the legal record, which could pay off down the road in a lawsuit, he said.

The notice of preparation of the Creekside project, for example, ended Thursday.

Audience member Nina Patterson said during a break that she feared the Creekside project will create parking problems for Lake San Marcos.

"(The city) is looking for sales taxes from Carlsbad and Encinitas. People are going to drive in from the west side, and you know they're not going to take a shuttle," she said. "They're going to be looking for parking on the west, and there goes Lake San Marcos."

Teacher Larry Osen asked Gonzalez if projects can be brought back after several years, like a proposed public golf course at the top of Double Peak five years ago.

"Projects don't die," said Gonzalez, who is working on the huge Navy bay-side recreation project in San Diego. "Technically it's supposed to be five years. But they're relying on an EIR from 1992."

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