DEL MAR — A two-year legal battle between the Winston School and the city of Del Mar was put to rest this week under a settlement agreement restoring the school’s 55-year lease.
Winston, a small nonprofit special education institution serving around 100 students annually, sued the city in fall 2021 after the city terminated their lease and ordered them to vacate the Shores Park property where they have operated for decades.
At the time, the city said the termination was justified because the school had repeatedly failed to submit a proper redevelopment plan for the campus as required by the lease. The school’s lawsuit claimed that the city unfairly terminated their lease after rejecting over a dozen design plans for not meeting unreasonable requirements.
Del Mar and Winston entered negotiations in February and agreed to delay further court proceedings, hoping to come to a settlement that both parties could support. On Sept. 29, city and school officials announced they had reached a solution.
“I’m very pleased to announce that after many months of settlement negotiations, the city and Winston School have reached an agreement on updated lease terms and a settlement agreement that will allow for the dismissal of the pending lawsuit, major redevelopment of the Winston School buildings and continued operations of the Winston School for the foreseeable future,” said City Manager Ashley Jones. “This outcome provides a significant benefit to the city, to Winston School and the students that they serve.”
Winston officials said they expect both parties to benefit from “less ambiguous lease terms” in the future.
“Winston is pleased to have the lawsuit behind us,” said Laura Cunitz, the school’s board president. “We feel we have developed a strong working relationship with City staff and are very much looking forward to redeveloping our 1947 campus to meet the needs of today’s students. The updated campus will be an asset to the Del Mar community.”
City and school officials also agreed on a new timeline for the redevelopment. The school must submit a complete application to the city’s Design Review Board by Oct. 31 and begin construction by the end of 2027.
The project must be substantially completed by the end of 2031.
The Winston School has been at the Shores Park property in Del Mar since 1988, in buildings that date as far back as the 1940s. In 2008, the city and school entered into a memorandum of understanding stating that Winston would help the city fundraise to buy the property from the Del Mar Union School District in exchange for a long-term lease to continue the school’s operation.
Winston School would end up contributing $3 million toward the $8.5 million purchase price, which was used as a rent credit for the school.
