SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego Council is expected to vote Monday on a controversial proposal by a developer to build a large office park on land surrounded on three sides by the Del Mar Mesa Preserve.

Residents who live nearby have been fighting the project and hope to convince the councilmembers to block it.

The project, called "The Preserve at Torrey Highlands," would go on a piece of land south of Sr-56 at Camino Del Sur. Locals call the property "The Notch" and say it's a mystery why the 11-acre parcel was left out of protected zone when voters approved the Preserve in 1996.

The best explanation, several residents told 10News, is that the land was owned by the Catholic Church, which planned to build on the property. The Church project was approved but never built and the Church sold the land in 2015.

A spokesperson for the developer, Cisterra, told 10News that the land was always meant for development and that an office park is much-needed in the area: "The Preserve at Torrey Highlands will help grow the innovation economy by creating a place for nearly 2,000 high-quality, high-paying jobs."

Opponents say voters intended any development on the land to be low-rise and fit the character of the neighborhood.

