City sued over Poway Valley Stock Farm vote

By Steve Dreyer

The City of Poway is being sued over an Aug. 20 City Council decision to approve plans to replace the Poway Valley Stock Farm with lots for 12 estate homes.

Preserve Poway, an unincorporated association that has High Valley land use attorney William Koska as its president, is asking a Superior Court judge to set aside the approval and order the city to prepare a full environmental impact report on the project.

The lawsuit claims the City Council’s 4-0 approval violated state laws “and Preserve Poway will suffer irreparable harm because of violations of applicable land use laws and regulations and significant adverse environmental impacts generated by the project that will not have been properly analyzed under CEQA” (California Environmental Quality Act).

A special City Council meeting has been set for 6 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the lawsuit in closed session. The regular council meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

The Aug. 20 approval came after seven speakers, including Koska, spoke in opposition to the proposal. Koska said the city’s recommended mitigated negative environmental declaration was insufficient and questioned the effect that decades of nitrates from horse urine would have on the soil. He unsuccessfully sought a 60-90 day delay in the vote.

Also named as respondents in the civil suit are property owners Harry A. Rogers and John F. and Shirley R. Trochta and John Fitch and Associates, the project consultant.