Supreme Court Petition for Review, November 4, 2022

2022-11-04 (F) Save the Field (Supreme Ct) - Petition for Review.pdf

​

Save the Field petitioned the California Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District Division One's unpublished decision. Case S276936.

Superior Court Injunction Continuance October 14, 2022

This continuance leaves the injunction in place for now. 👍

Judge Bacal continued the hearing on the petition for writ of mandate to December 16, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.

Superior Court Injunction Continuance September 30, 2022

This continuance leaves the injunction in place for now. 👍

Judge Bacal continued the hearing on the petition for writ of mandate to October 14, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.

Appellate Court Ruling (Unpublished) September 26, 2022

https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/D079480.PDF

​

​DMUSD's claims that the appeal is frivolous or unjustified are completely denied: pp 2-24

The judgement that the MND + FEIR are compliant with CEQA, despite arguments to the contrary during oral arguments: pp 24-37

​

DMUSD Permission Request to Appeal the Injunction: Denied July 7, 2022

37-2022-00005335-CU-TT-CTL_ROA-92_07-05-22_Order_1657393112774.pdf

​

August 2022: At the August 24th School Board Meeting, Chris Delehanty stated, "We've been working with our counsel to move forward with the steps in the court of appeal that will come September 13th, and with our hearing with the lawsuit against the City of San Diego to move forward in moving past that injunction and getting that project done." The meeting presentation slide also includes the hearing for the lawsuit against the City of San Diego has a September 30th date.

According to the Superior Court website, the appeal case had no future events scheduled as of the date of the school board meeting, so it is unclear where the September 13th date comes from.

​

July 7, 2022: DMUSD requested permission to appeal the injunction.

​Justices Huffman, Haller, and Dato denied DMUSD permission to appeal the injunction against the City of San Diego. DMUSD did not publicly disclose this at the July or August regular board meetings.

​

April 2022: At the April 27th School Board Meeting, the appeal timeline was communicated as "sometime in the summer, we don't have a date yet".

Also during the same part of the meeting, the injunction was communicated, "...As you know there was a hearing last week, the tentative ruling was not in our favor. Our legal counsel argued well on our behalf and it was not instated with ... briefing and we're continuing to work and fight against that, uh, a lot of projects continue so we'll update as we have more information on that."

Minute Order Ruling by Judge Katherine Bacal May 12, 2022

37-2022-00005335-CU-TT-CTL_ROA-83_05-12-22_Minute_Order_1652453983887

The Court, having taken the above-entitled matter under submission on 04/22/2022 and having fully considered the arguments of all parties, both written and oral, as well as the evidence presented, now rules as follows:
Petitioner's motion for preliminary injunction is GRANTED, conditioned on petitioner posting a bond in the amount of $60,000.

​

This is the final version of the injunction that stopped construction.

Injunction Against the City: Initial Ruling by Judge Katherine Bacal April 1, 2022

37-2022-00005335-CU-TT-CTL_ROA-60_04-01-22_Minute_Order_1650032900573.pdf

​

April 1 2022: Justice Bacal granted Save the Field an injunction against the City of San Diego based on the strength of the evidence.

​

February 2022: DMUSD started construction despite not having all of their environmental review settled. Meanwhile, Save the Field applied for an injunction of the City of San Diego’s permits to stop further damage.

​

January 2022: DMUSD applied for permits from the City of San Diego, despite the appeal not being settled and not having complete environmental review.

Appeal of Original Ruling: Notice of Appeal August 6, 2021
 

A 37-2020-00020207-CU-TT-CTL_ROA-108_08-06-21_Notice_of_Appeal_1628822197342.pdf

​

August 2021: Save the Field appealed the December judgment that led to the improper use of an MND and FEIR.

Request to be Done with Original Ruling: Final Return and Request for Discharge July 7, 2021
 

37-2020-00020207-CU-TT-CTL_ROA-105_07-07-21_Final_Return_and_Request_for_Discharge_1627055601716.pdf

​

July 2021: DMUSD resurrected the vacated Mitigated Negative Declaration and combined it with a Focused Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), a document that is normally used to remedy a Full EIR that has minor issues. This combination is in violation of CEQA law.

Original Ruling: Notice of Ruling on Petition for Writ of Mandate December 23, 2020

37-2020-00020207-CU-TT-CTL_ROA-51_12-23-20_Notice_of_Ruling_on_Petition_for_Writ_of_Mandate_1610578030998.pdf

​

December 22nd, 2020: At the December 22nd, 2020 special board meeting, DMUSD stated the following, "As you know we had a court hearing today, and we are happy with the decision, and we appreciate the judge's thoughtful and comprehensive ruling. Now that the judge has set aside the central concerns raised by the litigants, we stand ready to move forward with the rebuild of Del Mar Heights School."

​

Judge Wohlfeil ruled against DMUSD on three counts that that required remediation. As part of this process, he vacated the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) and the judgment stated that DMUSD was required to follow CEQA law.

Document 4274099 Filed by Save the Field November 6, 2020

4274099-v1--2020-11-06 (F) Notice of Lodgment of Excerpts of Administrative Record

Document 4274096 Filed by Save the Field November 6, 2020

4274096-v1--2020-11-06 (F) Response to Obj to Opening Brief

Document 4274089 Filed by Save the Field November 6, 2020

4274089-v1--2020-11-06 (F) Reply to Brief in Oppo to Petition for Writ of Mandate

Document 4255275 Filed by DMUSD October 28, 2020

4255275-v1--2020-10-28 DMUSD Opposition Writ of Mandate

Document 4255274 Filed by DMUSD October 28, 2020

4255274-v1--2020-10-28 DMUSD Opposition Writ of Mandate Brief

Document 4255273 Filed by DMUSD October 28, 2020

4255273-v1--2020-10-28 DMUSD Opposition Writ of Mandate Objections to Petition

Document 4255272 Filed by DMUSD October 28, 2020

4255272-v1--2020-10-28 DMUSD Opposition Writ of Mandate Dec

Document 4255271 Filed by DMUSD October 28, 2020

4255271-v1--2020-10-28 DMUSD Opposition Writ of Mandate Dec

Preliminary Fire Protection Analysis Report by J. Charles Weber Fire and Life Safety Consultant (August 2020)

A Community Fire Safety Report by an expert on fire safety, regarding the proposed changes to Del Mar Heights School.

Original Filing: Save the Field Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate (June 2020)

The petition document delivered to the district on Friday, 12 June 2020, outlining violations that are the causes of action.

​

June 2020: Despite months of community engagement and protest, DMUSD went ahead with the oversized school plans with only a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) despite the fire risk and lack of defensible space, so Save the Field was forced to file a CEQA lawsuit to ensure proper environmental review.

Save the Field Petition Exhibits (June 2020)

The supporting information for the petition.

Save the Field Statement of Purpose (April 2020)

“[A] watchdog to ensure that the Del Mar School District…[doesn’t] deprive children of critical play space…”

Sierra Club Statement (March 2020)

“[T]his project as proposed has not fully addressed all of the associated environmental impacts. A much more thorough analysis of these impacts, and better design/mitigation is essential…”

San Diego Taxpayer's Association Support for Measure MM

The San Diego Taxpayer's Association supported Measure MM in July 2018.