Judge upholds county finding that proposed Corral de Tierra shopping center water supply is sustainable.

In a case that could have ramifications for development across the region, Monterey County Superior Court Judge Lydia Villarreal ruled June 18 that the County Board of Supervisors followed the law when approving a proposed Corral de Tierra shopping center in March 2012. Specifically, Villareal’s ruling upheld the board’s finding that the project has a “long term sustainable water supply consistent with the requirements of the 2010 Monterey County General Plan.”

Villareal’s decision potentially puts an end to a 2012 lawsuit brought by the Highway 68 Coalition, a group of local residents generally opposed to further development along the highway.

The coalition’s 2012 complaint, brought by attorneys Molly Erickson and Michael Stamp, argued the county flouted the California Environmental Quality Act and its own general plan when certifying the project’s environmental impact report and approving the shopping center a month later. Among the issues the complaint raised were that the EIR did not adequately address or mitigate traffic impacts, visual impacts and water supply concerns.

A July 2014 court ruling upheld the Board of Supervisors approval on every point but one: water. At that time, the court issued an “order of interlocutory remand,” which meant the project could not move forward until the board revisited the water supply issue and once again find it sustainable.

In a 3-2 decision last December, the supervisors did just that, approving a resolution stating, “There was no new information, no changes in circumstances, and no increase in the severity of previously identified effects” on project’s water supply. That decision came after Erickson argued otherwise at the meeting, and that the EIR did not take into account the conditions of the current drought.

In hearing on the case April 14, Erickson argued to Villarreal that the county again violated the CEQA by affirming its original findings, and violated due process in multiple ways.

Erickson delivered a PowerPoint highlighting the impacts of the current drought, and that water supply conditions have changed considerably since the EIR was drafted and approved.

At the end of that hearing, Villarreal stated she would closely examine the arguments of the county and plaintiffs and come to a ruling as soon as possible.

The proposed shopping center, which is to be developed by Omni Resources, LLC, was approved with a water demand of 9 acre-feet-annually, and includes a water recharge system that will collect stormwater on the site and direct into the groundwater basin.

Villareal’s June 18 ruling dismissed Erickson’s arguments that the county did not follow due process, and upheld the county’s finding that the water supply for the project was sustainable.

Whether or not that means shovels hit ground anytime soon remains to be seen, as the case could conceivably be appealed to a higher court.

Multiple calls to Erickson and a Highway 68 coalition spokesperson have not yet been returned. Omni developer Eric Phelps, as well as his attorney Brian Finegan, are both on vacation and could not immediately be reached for comment.

If the project does in fact move forward, it’s been approved for 99,970 square feet of retail that includes a grocery store, coffee shop and services such as a dry cleaner and pharmacy at the intersection of Highway 68 and Corral de Tierra Road.