Is Sale Of Public Property Subject To CEQA?

A San Diego judge has ruled that a disposition and development agreement that includes a specific development program is a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. The case involves the potential development of Tailgate Park, a four-square-block, 1000-vehicle surface parking lot adjacent to Petco Park in Downtown San Diego that is owned by the City of San Diego. San Diego negotiated a DDA with a development partnership that includes the San Diego Padres, Tishman Speyer, and an investment firm called Ascendant Capital Partners. The developers agreed to purchase the 5.25-acre site for $35 million and in return committed to building 1,700 residential units in addition to 1.3 million square feet of office space and a 1,600-unit parking space among other things. The city concluded that because the EIR had already been certified CEQA did not apply. But San Diego Superior Court Judge Katharine Bacal, an experienced CEQA judge, concluded that the previous EIR did not contemplate zoning permitting so many housing units. “Adding these residential units would appear to cause a direct physical change in the environment, on a property that previously was identified for mixed commercial zoning that did not contemplate at least 1,710 residential units,” she wrote.

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