Lawsuit filed against City of San Francisco to prevent Great Highway from becoming a park
SAN FRANCISCO — In just a few days, the Great Highway on the west side of San Francisco is scheduled to be closed to car traffic. It comes after voters decided to turn the area into a park with Prop K on the November ballot.
Almost 55% of voters in San Francisco agreed the section of highway from Lincoln Way to Sloat Boulevard should be re-purposed into a beachfront park.
Now one group of neighbors filed a lawsuit Tuesday saying Proposition K was not legal and should be reversed.
"I get worried about safety. When the upper highway, Great Highway is closed, traffic flows into the neighborhoods," says Matt Boschetto. His family has lived on the west side for 5 generations, and he is also a small business owner.
That's why he decided to get into the fight over the planned park, literally on the Great Highway.
"San Francisco is the most democratic city in the U.S. It used to be a city about people power. It used to be a city that had very, very inclusive processes, and this is the absolute opposite," Boschetto said.
Matt is helping to lead "Livable SF," the group that held a rally Tuesday to announce a lawsuit suing the city saying passing Prop K was not legal.
The idea to close the Great Highway was met with opposition since the start. Residents in the Sunset neighborhoods said by closing the highway there would be more traffic in the neighborhoods, making the streets less safe for families. They also argued it would be harder for people to get to the commercial corridors, which would then hurt small business.
Those in favor of the park say there are work arounds to those concerns.
"We have extended multiple invites to the leaders of the no on K folks to work together on neighborhood improvements including addressing their concerns on traffic. Their answer is filing lawsuits to try to undo the democratic will of San Franciscan's," says Lucas Lux, president of the Friends of Ocean Beach Park, a group that's supported Prop K.
But as many have pointed out, the people most impacted on the west side of San Francisco voted overwhelmingly against closing the Great Highway - where as the people living on the other side of the city generally voted for it.
"We all live in a city together. We all vote together, and we honor the democratic outcome," says Lux.
Opponents, like Matt, say they fought it before voters approved it and they will continue to fight it now.
"I think there's little we can do to stop the closure at this point, but I do think it is a very strong argument and if we do win in the court of law, the ballot measure will be null and void," says Boschetto.
This has all gotten so contentious, the group against the park has even started a recall effort for the San Francisco supervisor who represents this district, Joel Enguardio.
He released a statement today saying he believes the measure was legal and the lawsuit has no merit.
CBS Bay Area also reached out to the San Francisco Mayor's office and the city attorney's office for comment.
The mayor's office never responded to our requests and the city attorney said they will be responding in court.
