Wilderness Preserve Lawsuit Now a Moot Issue
By Monrovia Weekly
Published: Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Tom Suess at the foot of Monrovia’s Wilderness Preserve. -Photo By Terry MIller
Residents in the Wilderness Preserve area filed a lawsuit against the city of Monrovia in February of this year after the city filed a state of non impact regarding the Wilderness Preserve. After the City of Monrovia rescinded its approval of the Resource Management Plan (RMP), Judge James C. Chalfant dismissed the lawsuit. According to the attorney for the plaintiffs, the city’s capitulation on the basic issue of a complete Environmental Impact Report (EIR) resulted in their approval of the court’s action.
Tom Suess, who brought the lawsuit, said, “We commend the City for repealing the subject Resource Management Plan (RMP) and the Associated Directions to Staff, and perform an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). This is exactly what the CEQA Lawsuit was asking for.”
Robert P. Silverstein of The Silverstein Law Firm in Pasadena, which represented the hillside residents, said, “We are pleased that the City has rescinded their illegal approvals. Our lawsuit demanded that the City Council’s January 2009 actions be invalidated because they endangered the public and violated the California Environmental Quality Act.”
The City of Monrovia replied with a copy of its August 8th City Manager’s report which stated, “In short, the City Council decided it was a better use of public money to conduct an intensive Environmental Impact Report (EIR) than to spend additional dollars in litigation.”
1 Response for “Wilderness Preserve Lawsuit Now a Moot Issue”
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You would have thought conducting an EIR would be a no brainer.
I wonder what new surprises lay ahead ? Like the city applying for grants to purchase the property for the Wildlife Preserve and one of the requirements before applying for the grants, that the city must already have legal public access to the property they are applying for a grant to purchase the land.
To the best of my knowledge, the private property owners who own and control Cloverleaf Dr and the property owners on Ridgeside where hikers must cut across private property to access Lower Clamshell fire road haven’t granted an easement allowing the public to pass through there property. Not to mention the private property with in the boundaries of the Wildlife Preserve, again private property and the Clamshell road is a private road when it runs through these properties. Another no brainer.
What did the scarecrow say on the Wizard of Oz and should become Monrovia’s new city motto ? IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN