The Seal Beach City Council is considering legal action against the I-405 Freeway expansion project.
City Attorney Steve Flower said he was authorized to say that the council discussed going to court to challenge the final environmental impact report for the freeway project during a closed session meeting that was held Monday afternoon.
Mayor Ellery Deaton said she could not say what directions the council had given the city attorney because that was discussed in closed session. However, she said she could say that the council “had heard the public” and the council was seriously considering taking legal action against the I-405 expansion project’s environmental impact report.
At Monday night’s City Council meeting, College Park East residents urged Seal Beach officials to fight the I-405 expansion project in court. The council chambers were packed.
District Four Councilman Gary Miller, who sits on the Orange County Transportation Authority Board, said that earlier that day the Transportation Agency board had voted 12 to 4 to support toll lanes. Miller and Supervisor Michelle Steele, a Seal Beach resident, were among the four dissenting votes.
During the public comment segment of the Seal Beach City Council meeting, neighborhood residents raised two concerns: they objected to toll lanes on freeways and plans to move the College Park East soundwall.
Patty Campbell was one of 15 College Park East residents who called for a legal challenge to the final draft of the environmental impact report. Campbell said that nowhere in the document includes impacts on the College Park East neighborhood.
She said there was no response to her request to have those impacts included in the report.
She also said there was no plan for locating utility polls in the report. She said the report was seriously flawed and should be challenged. The audience applauded and cheered her comments.
Robert Gonzalez said the area has a number of seniors. He was concerned about what would happen if an emergency vehicle had to come down Almond Avenue after it had been narrowed by the proposed relocation of the soundwall.
Gonzalez said if the project goes much further, the community would see a lot of homes in College Park East go on the market, which would impact the value of every home in Seal Beach.
City Attorney Flower said District Three Councilman Michael Varipapa had recused himself from the discussion, as Varipapa is a Caltrans employee.
District Two Councilman David Sloan said the city should do whatever it takes to keep the soundwall.
Councilman Miller said, “I personally am going to fight for the soundwall until the day that they tear it down.”
In other news, the council adopted an ordinance giving the city manager the authority to hire and supervise the next city clerk. The second and final appearance of the ordinance at the council was part of the Consent Calendar, which is usually voted on collectively and without discussion.
However, Miller and Varipapa both voted no on that item.
