FOUR GROUPS CHALLENGE FANITA RANCH

Lawsuit says housing development endangers wildlife, rare species

SANTEE

Four conservation groups asked a judge this week to halt a plan to build nearly 3,000 homes in Santee, arguing that last-minute changes to the plan erased a road that would have eased traffic and aided fire evacuations.

The petition filed Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court argues that Santee failed to comply with state environmental law by not recirculating the required environmental analysis after “an 11th hour” change to the project. The petition names the city, City Council and Home Fed Fanita Rancho, LLC.

Just six days before a scheduled Aug. 26 public hearing on the matter, HomeFed pulled its plan and eliminated one of its primary roadway connections, Magnolia Avenue, because City Councilman Rob McNelis lives nearby and may have had to recuse himself from voting on the development. The suit alleges that by approving the project without following proper guidelines, the city failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.

The complaint was filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Preserve Wild Santee, Endangered Habitats League and California Chaparral Institute.

The groups say that state biologists have expressed concerns about the project's impacts on sensitive species and wildlife connectivity and that almost the entire 2,600-acre Fanita Ranch site is designated critical habitat for the federally threatened coastal California gnatcatcher.

The project site is also important habitat for other rare species, including western spadefoot toads,