Prop K opponents sue to stop permanently closing Upper Great Highway for an oceanfront park

SAN FRANCISCO — Opponents of Proposition K announced a lawsuit filed challenging the legality of the measure which was passed in the November election to permanently close the Upper Great Highway to private vehicles for transforming a segment of the highway into an oceanfront park.

The civil suit was filed by a group of activists in the westside of the city including former District 7 Supervisor candidate Matthew Boschetto, Parkside business leader Albert Chow, Sunset resident Lisa Arjes, and Livable SF, a nonprofit organization advocating on transportation issues.

Five Supervisors are listed as defendants in the lawsuit including D4 Supervisor Joel Engardio, who was the author of Proposition K, D7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, former D5 Supervisor Dean Preston, President of the Board of Supervisors Rafael Mandelman and D6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. Five Supervisors were supporters of Prop. K and voted for the measure to make it qualified to be placed on the November ballot in 2024.

In the 2024 November election, 54.73% voters citywide voted for Prop. K. While the majority of yes voters came from the east side of the city, voters who live in the westside, southwest and southeast neighborhoods overwhelmingly opposed Prop. K with some precincts having as high as 83% voters to vote no on the measure.

Those are also predominantly Asian neighborhoods including Richmond, Sunset, Parkside, Oceanview, Outer Mission, Excelsior, and Visitacion Valley.

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department announced on March 1 the 2-mile-long Upper Great Highway from Lincoln Way to Sloat Boulevard would be permanently closed on March 14. A 43-acre new oceanfront park would be open on April 12 with ribbon cutting and community celebration.

On March 11, three days before the Upper Great Highway scheduled to be permanently closed to private vehicles, plaintiffs and opponents of Prop. K held a press event in the Sunset District at Irving Street and 22nd Avenue to announce the legal action taken at the San Francisco Superior Court seeking injunction to stop the city closing Upper Great Highway permanently.

"In their haste to place Proposition K on the ballot in time to qualify for the November 5, 2024 election, Supervisors and Real Parties in Interest Joel Engardio, Myrna Melgar, Dean Preston, Rafael Mandelman and Matt Dorsey ignored the state’s plenary authority over traffic control and roads and unlawfully placed a measure before San Francisco voters that was not in the voters’ power to decide," Plaintiffs wrote in the complaint.

The suit says Proposition K is legally invalid based on rule of law. First, the State of California has preempted the field of traffic control and roads, and state law precludes local voters from acting to close a public street. Proposition K affects a “partial” closure of the Upper Great Highway in violation of State Vehicle Code.

Proposition K also violates mandatory provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requiring local jurisdiction to consider and mitigate the potential environmental impacts of closing the Upper Great Highway to most traffic, according to the complaint.

The City did not undertake any CEQA process in connection with Proposition K and has provided no adequate remedy or feasible alternatives as a result of passing the measure. The implementation of Prop. K would cause irreparable harm to plaintiffs, the residents of the Sunset District, residents elsewhere in the City, Bay Area residents travelling through San Francisco, and visitors to the City which cannot be compensated via monetary damages, plaintiffs said.

Supervisor Engardio released a statement in response to the lawsuit, "I have full confidence in the City Attorney's ability to draft legal ballot measures that go before San Francisco voters. My guess is the court will quickly see this lawsuit has no merit."

The city attorney's office wrote in a statement, "Once the lawsuit is filed and served, we will review the complaint and respond in court."

“This lawsuit is just another in a long line of attempts by park opponents to overturn the will of San Franciscans,” said Lucas Lux, President of Friends of Ocean Beach Park. "Meanwhile, we are excited for the park to open in April so San Franciscans can begin enjoying the coastal park they voted for.”