Chula Vista

Assemblyman Steve Peace criticized the Sierra Club and the City of Chula Vista Tuesday for waging a long-running legal battle that has halted construction of a badly needed highway in the South Bay.

In a press conference, Peace (D-Chula Vista) also announced legislation that would change state law governing executive sessions, requiring cities to make public the record of such meetings after one year. Peace said the standoff between Chula Vista officials and environmentalists might have been averted if not for the “secretive nature” of government’s decision-making process.

“If these decision makers know that their words behind closed doors would eventually become public, perhaps they would act more responsibly,” Peace said.

Chula Vista and the Sierra Club have sparred for years over the city’s efforts to build a hotel on an ecologically sensitive sliver of the city’s bayfront known as Gunpowder Point. The environmental group also has opposed construction of a four-lane freeway, California 54, until 188 acres of wetlands intended to compensate for environmental damage from the project are turned over to the federal government.

In May, a federal appeals court halted construction of California 54, an interchange linking that route with Interstate 5 and a flood control project pending transfer of the 188 acres. The land is a nesting site for two endangered birds, the California least tern and the light-footed clapper rail.

A hearing to clear the legal logjam--which Caltrans officials estimate is costing at least $25,000 a day and which has triggered millions of dollars in claims from subcontractors--is scheduled for next week.

Peace said the city and the Sierra Club have put lives at risk by allowing their standoff to delay construction of the highway project. Jim Larson, a Caltrans spokesman, said the project includes replacement of a temporary, two-mile stretch of Interstate 5 that is classified as among the most dangerous roadways in the state.