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2011
Season
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In
August, Sea & Sage joined forces with the Center for
Biological Diversity and Friends of Coyote Hills to help
save West Coyote Hills. We have been working for many years
to see a solution to the unacceptable development plans
that threaten the small remnant of coast Sage Scrub open
space in Fullerton.
Below is a press release which was developed by the
groups involved in the legal action. |
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August
12, 2011 Press Release |
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Lawsuit
Launched to Protect Prime Open Space
Project Would Harm Gnatcatchers,
Coastal Sage Scrub
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| The Center for
Biological Diversity, Friends of Coyote Hills, and the Sea
and Sage Audubon Society today filed a lawsuit aimed at protecting
one of the finest remaining open space areas in north Orange
County. The 510-acre site in the City of Fullerton is threatened
by the West Coyote Hills development, which was approved by
the City in July. |
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| The site of the
proposed project is the largest unprotected open space remaining
in Fullerton, and contains one of the largest populations
of coastal California gnatcatchers, a threatened bird species
that depends on coastal sage scrub habitat that is vanishing
from the region. The 760-home project would destroy gnatcatcher
habitat on the site and fragment the remainder. |
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| “The project
would eliminate nearly a quarter of the gnatcatchers on the
site,” said John Buse, a senior attorney with the Center
for Biological Diversity. “But that’s just the
direct effect of habitat destruction – the remaining
gnatcatchers would have to subsist in the scattered pockets
of coastal sage scrub left by the development, and that seems
unlikely.” |
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| In 2010, the Fullerton
City Council voted to reject the West Coyote Hills project
after a long and contentious review process. The project’s
developer, a Chevron subsidiary, subsequently sued the City,
and the City settled this lawsuit by agreeing to reconsider
the project. The City did so in July, when it reversed its
previous decision without explanation. |
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| “It takes
time to preserve a treasure – and that’s just
what Coyote Hills is poised to become – an educational
and recreational asset to the million residents in this densely
developed, park poor region,” said Diane Bonanno of
Friends of Coyote Hills, the group that has worked to preserve
the site for a decade. “We have also launched a referendum
campaign to overturn the city council’s decision to
turn the site into another large development complex. Volunteer
signature gatherers are active throughout the city.”
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| The lawsuit, filed
in Orange County Superior Court, challenges the City’s
failure to disclose and eliminate the project’s effects
on gnatcatchers, other rare species, global warming, water
pollution, and other environmental impacts. |
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| “The City
has failed to recognize how devastating the impacts of this
project would be,” said Scott Thomas with the Sea and
Sage Audubon Society. “The severely fragmented open
space, carved out by the plan, could not adequately meet the
needs of gnatcatchers or other sensitive species, nor would
it meet the open space needs of the citizens of the area.”
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| The groups are
represented by Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger of San Francisco. |
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