A California city’s plan to build 3,000 homes on a stunning lakefront ranch has been thwarted after a judge halted the project.
The Fanita Ranch project was halted after it “abused its discretion and failed to proceed in the manner required by law,” Judge Katherine Bacal wrote in an order, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The 2,600-acre project was to be built in the hills of the Santee Lakes – near San Diego – to alleviate the region’s housing shortage and create quick escape routes in the event of a fire.
However, according to CBS 8 San Diego, Bacal said the plan was not consistent with the city’s plans and that Fanita Ranch violated California’s environmental protection laws.
Developer HomeFed Fanita Rancho LLC plans to appeal the decision, Jeff O’Conner told The Union-Tribune.
He also added that the project would have helped address the affordable housing crisis in the city.
The Fanita Ranch project was halted after it “abused its discretion and failed to proceed in the manner required by law,” ruled Judge Katherine Bacal (pictured: the proposed site).
The 2,600-acre project was to be built in the hills of the Santee Lakes – near San Diego – to alleviate the region’s housing shortage and create quick escape routes in the event of a fire.
Mayor John Minto said his community continues to “stand behind our efforts to meet the state’s requests and create additional housing in our city that will benefit our community.”
The plan was to build 3,000 homes, including public housing, but environmental groups feared the area would be vulnerable to wildfires, as there have been 65 fires there in the last 100 years, according to CBS 8 San Diego.
“There are places where development has no place, and an extreme fire zone is one of them,” Van Collinsworth, director of Preserve Wild Santee – one of the groups that filed the 2022 lawsuit – told CBS 8 San Diego.
This is not the first time the project has faced headwinds since its approval in 2020.
Developer HomeFed Fanita Rancho LLC plans to appeal the decision, adding that the project would have contributed $2.6 million to solving the city’s affordable housing crisis (pictured: housing models).
The plan was to build 3,000 homes, including social housing, but environmental groups feared the area was vulnerable to wildfires, as there have been 65 fires there in the last 100 years (pictured: property markets).
Shortly after the permit was granted, environmental groups filed suit, arguing that the municipality was unable to provide rapid evacuation routes. Bacal, in a separate ruling, demanded that Santee withdraw the permit, The Union-Tribune reported.
The council withdrew the referendum and re-introduced the project in 2022 after giving the developers another green light after they changed the process for reviewing the project, eliminating the need for a vote on the project.
“The court rightly rejected the city’s attempt to push through the Fanita Ranch project without considering the dangers of developing in a wildfire-prone zone,” John Bose, senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Union-Tribune.
“This decision is a victory for the exceptionally diverse wildlife that lives here and for the surrounding residents, who are now no longer exposed to an increased risk of wildfires.”
The city re-introduced the project in 2022 after giving the developers another green light after they changed the process for reviewing the project, eliminating the need to put it on the ballot for a vote, which led to a lawsuit (pictured: a cafe model)
Environmental groups demanded that the area be preserved. Most of the project site should remain undeveloped and include a network of trails.
The Endangered Habitats League, the California Chaparral Institute, Preserve Wild Santee and the Center for Biological Diversity have filed a lawsuit, saying the area must be protected. The development is located between Mission Trails Park and Sycamore Canyon Preserve.
The majority of the project site should remain undeveloped and include a network of paths.
Residents had already voted on Fanita Rach in 1999 and 2005, but both proposals were rejected.
DailyMail.com has contacted the ranch for comment.
