"Unlawful" Great Highway park faces legal challenge
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Pedestrians along the Great Highway while it was closed to cars during the pandemic. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images.
Weeks before the Upper Great Highway is set to open as a park, opponents of the contentious measure authorizing the roadway closure are fighting back with a legal challenge.
Driving the news: Earlier this week, Proposition K opponents filed a lawsuit against San Francisco questioning the legality of the measure and how it was placed on the ballot.
Why it matters: The lawsuit is the latest escalation in the fight over the planned park set to open next month. It has split voters on the city's east and west sides over "the war on cars" and sparked a recall campaign against District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio who led the effort to put it on the ballot.
Catch up quick: Proposition K asked voters whether to permanently ban cars along a 2-mile stretch of the highway and turn it into an oceanfront park.
- While the measure passed with 54% approval, voters in the Sunset and Richmond districts largely opposed the plan due to concerns over traffic and longer commutes, in sharp contrast to the approval it gained from voters in the city's eastern districts.
Between the lines: The plaintiffs in the case, including Matthew Boschetto, a former Board Supervisor candidate and leader of the "No on K" campaign, contend that voters do not have the right to approve the street closure and that the park proposal should be subject to the state's environmental review law.
- The suit claims the defendants — Engardio, Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Rafael Mandelman, Matt Dorsey and former Supervisor Dean Preston — "ignored the state's plenary authority over traffic control and roads and unlawfully placed a measure before San Francisco voters," according to the lawsuit.
What they're saying: Boschetto argued that the ballot measure should be voided and that the park conversion should go through the legislative process with community input rather than being decided upon by voters.
- "I don't have a complete prohibition to any park being there, but if we're going to do this, there's a right way to do it and it's been done the completely wrong way," he told Axios Wednesday.
The other side: Lucas Lux, president of Friends of Ocean Beach Park, said he doesn't believe the "lawsuit has any merit" and feels confident that it will be dismissed.
- "If you buy their argument, you can't have JFK promenade anymore. You can't have the car-free road through McLaren park. You can't have this new Ocean Beach park. The consequences are so broad and sweeping and out-of-step with the intent of the state legislation," Lux said, adding that such projects have already been granted exemptions from environmental reviews.
- "We want everyone's voices to be at the table, but the way to solve problems is not through lawsuits, it's through working together," he added.
What's next: The plaintiffs are seeking a court injunction to block this Friday's scheduled closure to vehicles and the park's opening on April 12.