Lawsuit against MPUSD aims to overturn football field lights project.

It was a triumphant moment for the coaches, athletes and board members of Monterey Peninsula Unified School District when, late on the evening of July 27, the board voted unanimously to approve a much anticipated project upgrading the Dan Albert Stadium at Monterey High School. 

The vote followed hours of public comment from supporters and opponents of the project, and in their remarks before casting their votes in support, board members acknowledged the controversy. "I just want the public to know the district has done everything it can do to please the neighbors in a neighborhood where the school has been there 116 years, definitely longer than any of those residents, who bought a home near a school," said Trustee Tom Jennings. 

But the neighbors are not pleased. On Aug. 27, groups called Preserving the Peace and Taxpayers for MPUSD Accountability filed a lawsuit against MPUSD in Monterey County Superior Court, seeking to overturn the project approvals. 

The basis of their complaint, filed by attorney Molly Erickson, echoes the complaints that have come from the groups for months: They allege the school district failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. 

"The [environmental impact report] admits that the stadium and field project would have significant and unavoidable noise and lighting impacts on the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Other unmitigated impacts include traffic safety, parking, historic resources and more." The lawsuit also raises concerns with the use of Logan Lane, a narrow street, for construction. 

The project includes: the construction of a new ancillary lower field; four 70-foot-tall stadium lights at the main field; new visitor bleachers facing the existing bleachers; a new PA system; and a press box.

The lawsuit indicates that plaintiffs may seek a court injunction to block construction while the CEQA complaint is moving through court. They raise issue with construction that is already underway for ancillary projects—specifically new parking areas—as a reason to halt the project while a decision is pending. (Part of the complaint also focuses on the absence of parking on the environmental impact report, which did not examine the parking impacts and include these new parking areas.)  

The suit relies in part on records obtained through a separate lawsuit over the California Public Records Act, in which one of the current plaintiffs—Taxpayers for MPUSD Accountability—sued MPUSD for records connected to the stadium project, ultimately receiving tens of thousands of pages. 

MPUSD officials are still reviewing the lawsuit and said they are not prepared to comment until they have read the full complaint.