TCA Appealing Water Board Ruling to State EYE ON SC, NEWS HEADLINES | JULY 24, 2013 BY STAFF | 0 COMMENTS By Jim Shilander The Transportation Corridor Agency on July 17 appealed the June 20 decision of the San Diego Regional Water Control Board denying the agency a permit to extend State Road 241 to an area just outside San Juan Capistrano. In its filing to the state water resources control board, the agency, cited what it called an “abuse of discretion,” by the regional body in denying the permit. In a 3-2 vote, the regional board denied the 5.5-mile extension that would have extended the toll road from its current terminus at Oso Parkway, just south of Rancho Santa Margarita, to Cow Camp Road east of San Juan Capistrano. The extension would have affected nearly a half-acre of wetlands with tributaries flowing into San Juan Creek and the surrounding watershed. If the permit had been granted, the TCA would have been required to restore about 35 acres of the wetlands and add over 40 drainage swales to separate debris from runoff. Opponents of the extension believe the agency is attempting to try again to extend the toll road to Interstate 5 south of San Clemente, which was rejected by both the California Coastal Commission and U.S. Department of Commerce in 2008. Members of the board who voted against the proposal cited similar misgivings. The appeal filing asserts that the regional board violated guidelines related to the California Environmental Quality Act. TCA spokesperson Lisa Telles wrote in an email the board “failed to adopt any findings in violation of law, acted in excess of its jurisdiction because it denied the water quality permit for reasons wholly unrelated to water quality, and relied upon irrelevant and incompetent information.” In addition, she wrote, the board largely disregarded the findings of staff, which “required the TCA to meet more stringent water quality requirements than have been required of any highway in the state.” The state board has between 270 and 330 days to respond the petition. The TCA had planned to have the road completed by late 2014 as late as early 2012.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 15:30:00 +0000
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