SAN CLEMENTE — The city of San Clemente and a homeowners’ association are suing to try to keep an extension of the 241 Toll Road from slicing through established communities in South Orange County.

Lawsuits filed Friday, July 28, assert that the Transportation Corridor Agency entered into a November lawsuit settlement that made land-use decisions without proper environmental review or opportunity for public comment.

In what was described as a protective agreement, the TCA agreed to never fund or build a toll road within a defined area south of San Clemente near Trestles Beach.

In return, environmental groups that had sued the TCA during a “Save Trestles” battle over a long-planned route to connect the 241 to I-5 at Basilone Road agreed not to oppose any alternative route outside of the avoidance area.

The TCA, maintaining that a 241 connection to I-5 is vital to relieve the congested freeway, now is looking at potential routes cutting through designated open space in south Orange County to merge with I-5 in San Clemente or San Juan Capistrano.

Lawsuits filed by The Reserve Maintenance Corporation – representing a community of 419 San Clemente homes – and by the city ask Orange County Superior Court to invalidate the settlement and protective agreement in the absence of proper public and environmental review.

The Reserve argues that “the TCA unilaterally rescinded over 30 years of planning and public process in favor of a ‘back room’ deal; a deal which was both outside the scope of the TCA’s authority and in blatant violation of California’s open-meeting laws.”

The settlement’s creation of an avoidance area south of San Clemente “virtually guarantees that the TCA will now seek to cram the toll road directly through the only places remaining available, i.e., the preserved open space, mitigation land and trails located in the established communities of San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and/or Rancho Mission Viejo,” the lawsuit says.

Development and open areas within those three communities were designed and approved with reliance on state, county and local planning documents that showed the state-designated route for the 241 going behind San Clemente to merge with I-5 at Basilone Road, the lawsuits say.

Any 241 route connecting to I-5 in San Clemente “does not, and cannot, conform to the route description of SR-241 as set forth in Streets and Highways Code section 541,” the city’s lawsuit says. “The Legislature establishes the framework for the State Highway System by specifically describing each route in the California Streets and Highways Code.”

TCA spokesman Jeff Corless said Tuesday that the agency could not comment on pending litigation.

The agency’s CEO Mike Kraman, in a statement issued July 19 when the city announced its intent to sue, said “it’s unfortunate that the City of San Clemente is choosing litigation over collaboration. This isn’t the way the public expects government agencies to solve issues. In order to relieve traffic congestion in our region, agencies have to work together constructively and honestly. We would hope the city would choose to work for, not against, the effort to relieve traffic, promote economic viability and protect our quality of life.”

Dan Silver, a spokesman for the Save San Onofre Coalition that settled the lawsuits with TCA, issued a statement calling the lawsuits an attack on one of California’s most popular state parks, San Onofre State Beach, which the lawsuit settlement is designed to protect.

“It’s unconscionable for the City of San Clemente and The Reserve Maintenance Corporation to attempt to destroy a state park enjoyed by millions,” the statement said. “A toll road through the state park is a proposal that was rejected by the California Coastal Commission, President George W. Bush’s Commerce Department and the Regional Water Board. It’s time for all Californians to again rally to save the park.”

Dan Bane, attorney for The Reserve association, said he isn’t out to destroy a state park with the lawsuit, “no more than I hope the Save San Onofre Coalition is out to destroy San Clemente.”

Bane said that the TCA has focused a lot on a public engagement process but the settlement agreement was hardly that.

“Our lawsuit aims at fixing the process,” Bane said. “Things were done in secret. The public was not involved. It was done behind closed doors without any public deliberations.”