Plans to move train tracks off the coastal bluffs in Del Mar may hit legal snag – NBC 7 San Diego
Summary
1. SANDAG is proposing a $4 billion rail realignment project to move train tracks away from eroding coastal bluffs in Del Mar.
2. Three alternate routes are being considered:
- Alternate A: 6.8 miles, starting in Solana Beach, going through the fairgrounds
- Alternate B: 5.3 miles, tunneling under Torrey Pines Reserve and Del Mar
- Alternate C: 4.9 miles, shortest option, entering near Torrey Pines State Beach
3. The project aims to improve rail reliability and frequency while relocating tracks off unstable bluffs.
4. Public input is being gathered during a scoping period until July 19, 2024.
5. Concerns have been raised by residents and officials:
- - Potential disruption to local communities and businesses
- - Impact on investments already made in existing rail infrastructure
- - Possible use of eminent domain
- - Environmental impacts
6. Solana Beach officials are particularly concerned about Alternative A, citing lack of engagement from SANDAG and potential negative impacts on the city.
7. Del Mar city council is preparing a response to SANDAG's Notice of Preparation (NOP) and considering legal action.
8. The project timeline includes completing a draft environmental document in 2025 and finalizing it by 2026.
9. Funding is expected to come primarily from state and federal sources, with $300 million already designated by California for planning and design.
10. SANDAG emphasizes that the current alternatives are not final and can be modified based on community feedback.
During Monday's special meeting, Del Mar city council members plan to discuss possibly filing a lawsuit over the Los Angeles-San Diego Rail corridor environmental analysis.
The LOSSAN Rail Corridor plays a key role in transporting millions of commuters and goods into our San Diego Region.
Since coastal bluff failure has been disrupting the railway system, SANDAG wants to move the tracks further inland and away from the eroding bluffs.
They’re proposing a $4 billion rail realignment project with three alternate route options. Each proposal could impact the cities of Solana Beach, Del Mar, and San Diego.
Alternate A: A 6.8 miles of tunnel portion. It would start South of the existing Solana Beach station and the train tracks would extend through the fairgrounds, where a new underground special platform would be created.
Alternate B: A 5.3 miles long and would bury the train tracks under a portion of the Torrey Pines Reserve and the City of Del Mar.
Alternate C: A 4.9 miles long, making it the shortest. It would enter near Torrey Pines State Beach North Parking Lot and exit under Jimmy Durante Boulevard.
Sandra Hutton lives in Solana Beac and says she first heard about the rail realignment proposal when a mailer arrived to her house about five weeks ago.
"When this [mailer] came out, we were like, 'Why weren't we included in this?'" she said.
She’s concerned about the disruption of the proposed alternate routes could bring to the area.
"This is a San Diego regional impact. The fairgrounds brings approximately $630 million in revenue to the City of San Diego and that's by tourism, by the horse racing etc.., where is that going to go," she said.
She also worries about the impacts the project could have on the railway and freeway access while construction is underway and the potential impacts it could have on investments in her city.
"It's the only artery North and South from San Diego North,” she said. "I worry about the loss of investments, Solana Beach has done towards elevating the train tracks over the lagoon, a seasonal platform at the fairgrounds, a rail trail, this was our money so there's a huge loss of sunk revenue, you know, that we'll never see again."
SANDAG expects most of the funding to come from state and federal resources.
California has already designated $300 million to the project’s planning and design phases.
Meanwhile, Del Mar city officials are scheduled to meet Monday for a closed session.
In a statement, Del Mar Mayor Dave Druker said, “The closed session will focus on securing expert legal resources to support the City as the Notice of Preparation, California Environmental Quality Act, and National Environmental Policy Act are completed by SANDAG as part of the environmental review for the LOSSAN Realignment Project. In addition to seeking outside legal expertise, the City also plans to engage the services of outside planning, engineering, and communications consultants as part of the City’s participation in the environmental review, and future design and construction of this important project."
News Flash
City News & Announcements
Posted on: June 23, 2024
Council discusses rail realignment; SANDAG hosts scoping meeting
The City Council on June 17 opened a public discussion on how Del Mar should respond to an environmental document for SANDAG's Rail Realignment Project, which seeks to relocate the railway off of the Del Mar bluffs by 2035.
The next day SANDAG hosted its own meeting, drawing a crowd estimated at 500, to gather public input on issues and alternatives that the project's environmental impact report should examine.
SANDAG's June 18 "scoping meeting" at the San Diego Marriott Del Mar was an early step in environmental review that began June 4 with the agency's publication of a notice of preparation, or NOP, of a draft environmental impact report.
During the scoping meeting, testimony from some Del Mar residents repeated points they had made to the City Council the night before.
At that meeting, Del Mar councilmembers agreed that:
- The Rail Subcommittee of Mayor Dave Druker and Deputy Mayor Terry Gaasterland should prepare Del Mar's NOP comment letter for City Council consideration July 8;
- The letter should reflect public input from the council's June 17 meeting and related communications submitted by the public;
- The City should retain an environmental consultant to review whether the NOP complies with California Environmental Quality Act guidelines and statutes; and
- City staff should coordinate legal review of the NOP and the City's comment letter.
SANDAG is accepting public comment on the NOP through July 19. Del Mar has requested a 15-day extension of that deadline. The request is under consideration by SANDAG.
The NOP examines three alternative alignments: I-5, Crest Canyon and Camino Del Mar.
Contact SANDAG: 858-549-RAIL or LOSSANcorridor@SANDAG.org
Open LOSSAN Rail Realignment webpage
Open related story: How Del Mar is tracking SANDAG’s Rail Realignment Project (June 7, 2024)
Rail proposal shocks Solana Beach residents
DEL MAR — As SANDAG continues its scoping period for advancing three rail realignment options to the environmental study phase, Solana Beach leaders are pushing back against one of the options they say would have devastating impacts on the city.
In a June 4 notice of preparation (NOP), SANDAG narrowed down upwards of 40 route options brought forward in the past year to just three that they say have the best chance of moving forward — one beginning in Solana Beach and running along Interstate 5, and two options starting in Del Mar, with one following Crest Canyon and another along Camino Del Mar.
All three alignment options include a proposed north and south portal, underground tunneling and double tracking. The project aims to relocate a crucial 1.7-mile section of the Los Angeles-San Luis Obispo-San Diego (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor off the unstable Del Mar bluffs and further inland while improving rail reliability and frequency.
The agency is now collecting public input on these options and the proposed study elements for environmental impacts until July 19 and invited hundreds of residents to attend a scoping meeting on Tuesday night at the Marriott Del Mar.
SANDAG Environmental Compliance Manager Keith Greer emphasized Tuesday that the three current alternatives are not set in stone and are subject to change based on community feedback.
“We can modify these to avoid impacts, we can add new alternatives that come out of scoping, and we can delete alternatives,” Greer said.
In addition to Del Mar residents and frequent train users, many of the meeting’s attendees were residents of Solana Beach. The day before, the city’s mayor, Lesa Heebner, raised concerns about one of the options, known as Alternative A, in a Monday email.
Alternative A is the longest and most expensive realignment, running nearly seven miles with a 5-mile tunnel and costing around double that of the other two alternatives at $4 billion.
Alternative A proposes heading south, starting in the existing rail trench in Solana Beach, with a cut-and-cover tunnel descending at a 2% grade to the Fairgrounds. There, it would connect with a bored tunnel running beneath the San Dieguito Lagoon and head east to run along the I-5 before exiting at a knoll past Los Penasquitos Lagoon.
In her email, Heebner told residents the alignment would take seven to 12 years to build and that it would likely require the taking of properties east of the railroad trench, reconstruction of the Via de la Valle vehicle bridge, and the closure of the Fairgrounds for several years.
She also expressed frustration at SANDAG’s lack of engagement with the city regarding advancing this alternative.
“SANDAG did not engage with Solana Beach on Alternative A, yet they held workshops and office hours in Del Mar for many months. If not for the loud and persistent voices of some Del Mar residents, Alternative A would never have been included. Solana Beach residents and other stakeholders were not informed or consulted,” Heebner said.
SANDAG staff said Alternative A resulted from feedback from residents over the past year and involves using public land to limit impacts on private property.
“This alternative minimizes private impacts by pushing onto public properties, whether its land next to the I-5 or San Dieguito Lagoon or the 22nd Ag District,” Greer said. “This is the longest, probably the most complex alternative we have.”
The 5.3-mile Crest Canyon alignment, or Alternative B, would begin at a portal near the intersection of Jimmy Durante Boulevard and Camino Del Mar and continue southeast to exit at the knoll near I-5 to connect to the existing track.
The Camino Del Mar option, or Alternative C, spans 4.9 miles and, similar to Alternative B, enters a portal near the intersection of Jimmy Durante Boulevard and Camino Del Mar. The route exits from a southern portal at Torrey Pines Road and Carmel Valley Road onto a bridge over the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon before connecting to the existing track.
Carlene Moore, CEO of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, said the Fairgrounds board will also submit a formal response to the NOP. Despite concerns about Alternative A, she said she was glad to see SANDAG highlight the inclusion of a special events platform at the Fairgrounds as one of the project’s objectives.
“We’re all aware of the draft report, and we will be making comments on it,” Moore said. “Alternative A is definitely bigger. Seven to 10 years of construction … could have a huge impact.”
Fairgrounds leaders have also previously stated that further study of rail realignment through their property could jeopardize the possibility of placing affordable housing at the Fairgrounds to help Del Mar meet their regional housing quota.
The city of Solana Beach, the city of Del Mar, and other agencies will also submit an official response to the NOP. Heebner said Solana Beach’s main position would be that Alternative A should not be advanced for further study.
“We didn’t think this would ever be a reality that we would spend taxpayer money on studying,” Heebner said. “It just doesn’t pass the common sense test. It seems really outrageous to me.”
The Del Mar City Council discussed a draft response to the NOP at Monday’s meeting and plans to continue talks at its July 8 meeting. Several council members and residents have expressed concerns about having a tunnel portal near Del Mar residences and the potential for eminent domain.
Del Mar leaders also discussed Heebner’s communication from Monday and said they are committed to communicating with Solana Beach leaders to keep both cities informed and prevent the spread of inaccurate information.
“In my view, Its gonna be really important to engage in a constructive way with Solana Beach, and I’d like to see us do that sooner rather than later,” Councilmember Terry Gaasterland said.
City Manager Ashley Jones emphasized that the reason so many workshops regarding the rail were held in Del Mar, as mentioned in Heebner’s email, is because the city lobbied for them.
“This is really an issue, I think, between Solana Beach and SANDAG. Part of the reason that Del Mar has been as informed as we have been is because we’ve been lobbying SANDAG to come to our meetings and do presentations, and we’ve offered to host public workshops here. Any of the stakeholders could be doing that,” Jones said.
Going forward, Del Mar leaders said they are focused on providing a thorough response to the NOP that raises all of the necessary questions and concerns. The city has also requested that SANDAG grant a 60-day extension for them to submit their response.
Councilmember Dwight Worden also suggested that the city push to be recognized as a “responsible agency” for the project due to the severe local impacts, giving them more opportunities for dialogue with SANDAG.
SANDAG aims to complete a draft CEQA environmental document next year and finalize it by 2026. Another federal environmental study must be completed before the project can progress and the SANDAG board can approve a specific alignment.
Written comments about the NOP can be sent to SANDAG at 401 B Street, Suite 800, San Diego, CA 92101, with attention to Tim Pesce; via email with the subject line “SDLRR Project NOP” to LOSSANcorridor@sandag.org; or online at SANDAG.org/railrealignment.
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