Two school districts sue the city of Salinas over future housing plans.

The Alisal Union School District and Salinas Union High School District have sued the city of Salinas, asking a judge to prevent construction on the city’s massive Central Area Specific Plan from launching because the construction fees paid by developers won’t generate enough money to build new schools to accommodate growth.

Both districts are at full capacity, and new housing will generate an influx of students that will result in overcrowded schools if new ones aren’t built, according to the lawsuit

CASP, a 760-acre development project that includes affordable housing, was unanimously approved by the council on Dec. 1. At full build-out, it’s expected that 15,000 people will reside in 3,900 new homes or apartments. The project area includes two elementary schools in AUSD boundaries and a middle school within SUHSD’s jurisdiction.

Both districts are responsible for planning and construction of their new schools. AUSD is expected to obtain $19.6 million from CASP developer’s fees and SUHSD’s take is estimated to be $55 million; neither amount is sufficient to construct new schools.

According to the lawsuit, the project’s final environmental impact report for the project didn’t include the impacts for alternative scenarios such as a lack of new schools; a lack of schools can lead to an increase in traffic as students commute, and also in demand for public services such as police and fire.

“Due to timing of the city approvals, the districts have been left with little option but to file suit under [the California Environmental Quality Act],” writes Claudia Meléndez, AUSD’s public information officer, via email. “School districts feel that the comments and concerns sent to the city regarding the EIR have not been taken seriously.”

The city, however, argued in court documents there’s no way to predict over a 20-year period how the districts will respond to their inability to construct new schools in the development area.