Environmental groups are suing Jurupa Valley over the approval of a development plan some 450 feet from an ancient oak tree. The 13,000-year-old tree is the oldest in California. The plaintiff’s say the city’s approval of the project violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit in Riverside County Superior Court on Friday. The Center for Biological Diversity, along with attorney Abigail Smith, are representing the California Native Plant Society, Endangered Habitats League and Friends of Riverside’s Hills.
The lawsuit comes nearly a month after the Jurupa Valley City Council voted 3-2 to approve the Rio Vista Specific Plan. Councilmembers Brian Berkson and Armando Carmona opposed the project.
Meredith Stevenson, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, says the city failed to fully assess the potential threats of the project to the 13,000-year-old tree and its habitat. She also argues there isn't substantial evidence to support that a 450-foot buffer is enough to reduce environmental impacts.
"There is going to be impacts on the watershed. It seems that the city has overlooked that," said Stevenson. "We're concerned that the city has not sufficiently assessed impacts of temperature increases on the Jurupa oak."
Stevenson says her organization and other groups want the city to set aside a 100 acre preserve to protect natural resources.
Both city officials and the project’s developer, Richland Communities, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The company plans to build a new school, hundreds of homes and industrial space. They’ve also reached an agreement to hand over the Oak tree’s conservation duties to the Kizh Nation - Band of Gabrielino Indians. They shared in a statement last month that they're committed to preserving the Jurupa Oak.
"The updated Rio Vista Specific Plan, which is supported by the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians—Kizh Nation, will provide protection that doesn’t exist now or in the previously approved project," reads the statement. "We’re pleased that the City Council understood that and voted to approve the project."
City officials shared in July that a 450-foot buffer would provide sufficient protection and expressed confidence that Richland Communities will work with the Kizh Nation to preserve the tree.
The Kizh Nation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
