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The Del Mar Heights School rebuild is on hold as the Del Mar Union School District completes additional environmental reviews, stemming from a court decision in the lawsuit against the district by Save the Field.
The district had planned to break ground on the project last summer and for students to be in their new school in August 2021, however, Heights students will continue to attend school off-site in the 2021-22 school year at Ocean Air School and Del Mar Hills Academy.
The project has been slowed by the requirement for a coastal development permit from the City of San Diego and the lawsuit, which alleges the district failed to comply with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) with its “insufficient” Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) that concluded that the rebuild will result in no significant impacts on the environment. At the Feb. 24 meeting, the board vacated its approval of the MND to begin work on a “focused” environmental impact report.
NOTE: City councils and school boards have closed their meeting spaces to the public to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Public participation is possible by phone links to the meetings, livestreaming meetings and/or emailing comments. Visit each agency’s website for details, usually found under “Meetings” or “Agendas.”
CITY COUNCILS
CARLSBAD
The Carlsbad City Council will meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday to review whether or not to adjust its compensation for 2021, whether to adjust the city’s part-time and management salary schedules, and whether to increase those employees’ pay. The council will hear a report on COVID-19 expenses and will discuss whether to use $1.5 million from its budget to pay for them. The council will hear a report on the Monroe Street Pool Renovation/Replacement Project and consider design concepts. An informational presentation on the Ponto property in the Poinsettia Shores Master Plan, will be given, including an overview of the planned and allowed la
Judge issues ruling in Heights rebuild lawsuit
The Del Mar Heights rebuild as seen from Mira Montana.
(Courtesy)
The Del Mar Union School District must address three outstanding environmental issues before continuing on with its Del Mar Heights School rebuild, according to a Dec. 22 ruling in the lawsuit against the district by Save the Field.
Save the Field’s lawsuit centers on the belief that the district’s California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process was flawed, resulting in an incomplete and inaccurate environmental review. Judge Joel R. Wohlfeil found that the “abbreviated environmental process employed by district did not, in part, comply with CEQA.” The judge concluded while there were three areas that the district should study further, 10 out of the 13 complaints against the district were without merit.