Salinas school districts suing city of Salinas

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) The Santa Rita Union School District announced Thursday that it is suing the city of Salinas over the West Area Specific Plan under the California Environmental Quality Act. The Salinas Union High School District jointly filed a petition for Writ of Mandate with the Santa Rita district.

SRUSD said in a statement that it has been in discussions with the city and developers for three years with no results.

In the lawsuit, SRUSD said the Environmental Impact Report passed by the city last month does not adequately or accurately show the impact the development will have on the district and the environment.

The West Area Specific Plan project is one of three located in areas north of Boronda Road. The city plans to build a development that includes 4,340 units of low, medium and high density housing units as well as mixed-use commercial development.

The SRUSD will be holding a town hall meeting to discuss the history and impacts on Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. at McKinnon Elementary School.

Marcos Cabrera with the Salinas Union High School District said the board of trustees understands the need for more housing, but feels their comments were not adequately addressed.

"...Our District has not been included in any negotiations with the developers over the past three years, our comments sent as part of the Environmental Impact Report were not adequately addressed and when open meetings facilitated by the developer or city staff have taken place, there has been a generalized feeling that school district concerns do not matter," Cabrera said in a statement.

Cabrera said the SUHSD will not release any more information because the lawsuit is pending.