ENCINITAS — The California Coastal Commission on Thursday unanimously upheld the city’s approval of 42 single-family homes on a 14-acre inland bluff overlooking Batiquitos Lagoon, denying a local group’s appeal over potential negative environmental impacts.
The appeal, filed by the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, contested The Cove housing project based on claims that pesticide-contaminated soil and erosion from a January storm posed risks to water quality and bluff stability.
In turn, the state agency determined these concerns were largely unrelated to the project, which only involved the construction of the homes and associated landscaping and trails.
“The appellant’s contentions are outside the scope of the approved project in question, which is limited to the construction of the homes,” said Stephanie Leach of the commission’s San Diego Coast district office.
Additionally, the agency noted that many of the group’s contamination concerns had already been addressed through previous permits. Leach said the encapsulation of pesticide-impacted soils was completed before the January storm and was deemed adequate by multiple regulatory agencies, including the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.
“Commission water quality staff’s previous review verified that the pesticides are not capable of impacting groundwater or, by extension, the lagoon,” Leach said.
Morgan Gallagher, an attorney representing project developer Toll Brothers, supported the Commission staff’s findings, adding that the January storm’s erosion impacts were addressed separately under an emergency coastal development permit.
“The remediation concluded, and all of the pesticide-impacted soil was encapsulated between seven and eleven feet below finished grade,” Gallagher said.
The Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation, after monitoring the lagoon’s water quality, expressed concerns about pesticide contamination detected earlier this year.
“In February, we did samples again on a two-year cycle… and we found OCPs in the same locations where we had E. coli and Enterococcus bacteria before,” said David Hill, a volunteer with the organization. “There is no other source of these OCPs. We need further analysis of this great environmental impact for Batiquitos Lagoon.”
Dolores Welty, a resident near the project site, highlighted the erosion damage caused by the storm, which she said overwhelmed the site’s stormwater controls and deposited sediment on neighboring properties.
“When the rains hit, they didn’t have sufficient BMPs [Best Management Practices] to stop it,” she said. “The water just poured through, hit this brick wall, went over the wall, and covered her driveway and front lawn, which is right next to the lagoon.”
Toll Brothers representative Greg Deacon assured the Coastal Commission that site conditions had significantly improved since the storm, adding the company had worked with affected neighbors to address their concerns.
“The substantial grading for the project has now been completed … and the way the land was during the intermediate condition has since been changed to flow inward into two silting basins,” Deacon said.
Despite these assurances, some commissioners voiced concerns about the long-term stability of erosion controls and public access trails required for the development.
“I just have a concern now that these issues around erosion are being brought up, that the area … that the trail is in, I’m hoping that that is adequate for the protection of that trail in the long term,” one commissioner said.
The commission’s decision allows the project, which includes associated landscaping and trails, to proceed under the conditions set forth by the city and prior agency approvals.
