SAN DIEGO (CNS) — The Sierra Club is suing to block the development of a 490-acre residential project in western Otay Mesa, which the group says would include construction of a road through protected parkland.
The suit filed Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court challenges the Otay Mesa Southwest Village project, which is planned for more than 5,000 homes just east of Interstate 805 and south of state Route 905.
The Sierra Club says the project does not comply with the city's general plan and climate action plan, which dictate new housing should be built in urban areas with existing infrastructure and public transit. Instead, the group alleges the project would involve building a new road through protected open areas to connect the development to San Ysidro.
"The city's own mapping ranks the project site among the least suitable locations for climate- and people-friendly infill development," Sierra Club Legal Chair Dave Hogan said in a statement. "This is textbook destructive urban sprawl."
The lawsuit alleges that the project violates the California Environmental Quality Act, as all environmental impacts weren't fully considered.
Lisa Ross, San Diego Sierra Club Chapter Chair, said, "Sierra Club supports building more housing, especially affordable housing. But putting thousands of homes far from existing services and transit and dependent on new roads, is the wrong way to build it."
Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.
