Westside residents opposed to closing the Upper Great Highway to vehicle traffic full-time announced Tuesday that they are filing suit against the City and County to overturn Proposition K, the voter-approved plan to close the roadway and convert it into a car-free promenade. The lawsuit also names the city’s recreation and park department and Supervisors Joel Engardio, Myrna Melgar, Rafael Mandelman, Matt Dorsey, and former Supervisor Dean Preston as defendants.
Plaintiffs and supporters held a press conference Tuesday afternoon at the corner of Irving Street and 22nd Avenue in the Sunset District. Multiple press outlets, including television, radio, and online news platforms, were present at the conference, which took on a carnival atmosphere as supporters held up signs and handed out tea towels emblazoned with support for keeping the Upper Great Highway open to vehicles, as well as signs in support of recalling District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, who supported Proposition K.
According to a statement released Monday by the group LivableSF, organized by promenade opponents and one of the plaintiffs, the suit contends that Proposition K is “an unauthorized partial roadway closure” that violates California law and was placed on the ballot without necessary review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The suit thus seeks injunctive relief under California Code of Civil Procedure section 525.
“On matters of traffic control and roadways, the state of California has preempted that area, meaning that their authority is absolute in the area of roads and traffic,” lawyer Richard Corriea, a former San Francisco police commander and Richmond District resident told reporters.
“Now, imagine if you drive down the road to Daly City and they dream up rules for traffic signs and speed limits. That’s why the state occupies the area absolutely […] [what if] residents of some small city on the peninsula decide to get together one day and close the roadway to keep some people out? Or gentrify that neighborhood by eliminating the people who need to have cars. We wouldn’t want that to happen, and the state says you can’t do it.”
‘We were duped into an invalid measure unfairly and secretly put on the ballot,’ said Albert Chow of People of Parkside-Sunset.
Proposition K was approved by 54.7 percent of San Francisco voters last November. However, the vote also reflected a sharp divide in the city, with most precincts on the west and south sides vehemently opposed. The road is set to close to all cars March 14, and the promenade will open on April 12. The road was first closed to vehicles in 2020 as part of social distancing measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. In following years, a compromise was put in place where the highway was open to vehicle traffic except on holidays and weekends.
While the press conference was not formally related to the effort to recall Engardio, his involvement in Proposition K and the recall petition against him, launched in early February, loomed visibly in the background.
Plaintiff Albert Chow, proprietor of Great Wall Hardware and vice president of People of Parkside-Sunset, addressed Westside residents’ desire to keep the roadway and alleged that Proposition K was the result of a backroom deal.
“We all have a personal memory, a personal attachment, a personal utility for the Great Highway. People keep asking why we keep raising the subject. Because the subject is not dead,” he told reporters. “We were duped into an invalid measure that was unfairly and secretly put on the ballot. Someone like Lucas Lux back there was secretly meeting with Joel Engardio and crafting this bill, and you know what? I don’t find it appetizing or appealing that Engardio listens to a constituency of one.”
Lux, a senior counsel at Google, an Ocean Beach resident, and the president of Friends of Ocean Beach, attended the press conference as an observer and answered reporters’ questions.
“I think the lawsuit is baseless … it’s the next step in a string of years of obstruction, trying to block the implementation of what San Franciscans want,” Lux told The Voice.” The city voted for a park, and they are trying to block implementation because they know that this city will love the park.”
Also speaking in support of the lawsuit was former District 7 supervisorial candidate Matt Boschetto, also a plaintiff.
“When this went on the ballot, many on the Westside were extremely surprised. … The compromise enjoyed a broad consensus. On a citywide ballot, Prop K did not enjoy that same consensus on the Westside where voters soundly rejected it by 70 percent,” Boschetto told reporters.
“Engardio and Melgar evaded accountability by putting this measure on the ballot; even worse, they made the people do their dirty work when there is good evidence that the people never had the right to do so in the first place. … This is about holding our elected officials in City Hall accountable to the laws of our state. More importantly, this shows that San Franciscans won’t sit idly by in the face of autocratic leadership.”
The Voice reached out to Supervisor Joel Engardio for comment. We received a response from Jason Galisatus, spokesman for the Stand with Joel campaign:
“Supervisor Engardio met with and listened to constituents on both sides of this issue. There was more than four years of public debate over the Great Highway, including a citywide ballot measure in 2022. Supervisor Engardio supported getting more voter clarity with the most transparent and democratic outcome of a ballot measure. Everyone could have a say about what to do with a coast that belongs to everyone.”
