SAN MARCOS – A field overgrown with grass and weeds near Oleander and Poinsettia avenues is where San Marcos Unified School District plans to open an elementary school next year.
But a group of parents and residents don't want the school there, and it has filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the project until the district address its concerns about traffic safety.
At a public meeting in February, the school board approved the final environmental report, allowing the district to seek permits to begin building in the fall and open the school by August 2007.
Opponents of the project and owners of the 22-acre parcel, which is in an unincorporated area just west of the city limits, say they were not told about the meeting. Because they didn't get a chance to speak up and can't get the board to reconsider its approval, the lawsuit was filed, said Michael Tan, one of the property owners.
People have united to fight the district, using the California Environmental Quality Act. The lawsuit, filed Monday by parents, the property owners and a resident who lives close to the parcel, alleges that the district failed to fully address effects of building an elementary school in the semirural area.
Some parents say they are worried that their children would have to walk to school along streets that don't have continuous sidewalks. Some residents don't like the idea of increased traffic the school would bring. Tan said he doesn't want to sell the land; he wants to hang onto it and develop 60 single-family homes on it someday.
The district declined to comment about the lawsuit yesterday. It's negotiating to buy the parcel and could use eminent domain to acquire it.
Parents who oppose the school have formed a group called Parents for Safe Schools. It contends that the district has not provided details about how it would make roads safe for children walking or biking to school.
Some nearby streets have sidewalks, others only asphalt curbs or paths that end at driveways. Some segments are just dirt and weeds. Vazquez said the county also asked how students would reach sidewalks near the proposed school, one of the 84 comments its Department of Planning and Land Use made in December about the environmental report.
Two months later, the district responded that it would pursue improvements such as sidewalks, bike paths and safety programs through grants from the Safe Routes to School Program, but can't apply for them until after the school has been built.
That would be too late for kids who need to walk to school, Vazquez said.
Kathy Tanner, the district's facilities director, said though detailed measures to address traffic were not included in the environmental report, she is working with the Sheriff's Department, the county, and the cities of San Marcos and Vista to make sure that the streets are safe for children before the school opens.
Tanner said she and a traffic consultant are studying the traffic issues more closely and met with some parents last week. Making sure that children can get to and from school safely is one of the most important priorities when planning for a new school, she said.
The Oleander and Poinsettia location was the best choice out of four sites considered, Tanner said. It is not near railroad tracks, isn't a former hazardous waste disposal site and is within the district's attendance boundaries, according to a criteria list used for school site selection.
The new school would relieve crowding at Carrillo, Dunn and Paloma elementary schools, Tanner said. The latest enrollment figures show that Paloma has 1,115 students, Dunn, 920, and Carrillo, 767.
But Debbie Hu who lives near the site, said Oleander, a narrow two-lane road, can't accommodate the traffic that would be created by an elementary school. It's already packed during rush hour and drivers often exceed the posted 35 mph speed limit, Hu said.
Parents and residents have made it clear at meetings with the district that an elementary doesn't belong at the proposed site, Hu said, and she doesn't understand why the district insists it's a great location.
Susan Paolino, who is named in the lawsuit, said her chief concern is for the kids. Her motivation to join the lawsuit is to make the district answer her questions, she said, but she also wonders how she'll be able to leave her driveway if cars are blocking the two-lane road.
Linda Lou: (760) 737-7574; linda.lou@uniontrib.com
