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Environmental group sues City of San Diego

A San Diego environmental group has sued the city of San Diego and its redevelopment agency. The suit alleges the city's recently approved Downtown Community Plan fails to analyze possible alternative

A San Diego environmental group has sued the city of San Diego and its redevelopment agency. The suit alleges the city's recently approved Downtown Community Plan fails to analyze possible alternatives to avoid traffic gridlock. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The suit, filed by Save Our Forest and Ranchlands, or SOFAR, says if you add up all the roads and parking lots in San Diego, you see 200 square miles, or one quarter of the entire urban area, has been paved over.

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Attorney Marco Gonzales says the city's Downtown Plan violates California's Environmental Quality Act by ignoring feasible alternatives to inevitable gridlock.

Gonzales: "They reference some 62 intersections that would operate at an unacceptable level of service at full build out of the community plan, and we believe there are a number of alternatives they could have considered to get people out of their cars to make downtown a walk able and livable city but they just refused to do so."

SOFAR wants a Downtown Transportation Management Plan with less free parking and more public transport. Alison St John, KPBS news.

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