ALHAMBRA >> Residents have filed a lawsuit against the city in an attempt to block a development project on South Fremont Avenue that would include a Lowe’s home improvement store and two six-story office buildings.

Filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the lawsuit seeks a judgment nullifying the project’s Feb. 27 City Council approval and mandating that the project’s representatives conduct a full environmental impact report in order to move forward.

The residents, members of the local nonprofit group Grassroots Alhambra, argue that the environmental study, which both the city Planning Commission and City Council approved for the project, was insufficient. They also say the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act, among other laws, when approving the report.

“It’s without question that the proposed project will have an adverse effect on the environment and lives for many residents,” said Eric Sunada, a Grassroots Alhambra member and former City Council candidate. “Because it is also being proposed in one of the most notoriously congested and contaminated areas not just within the city, but the region, gives us great cause for concern.”

Consultants for the Charles Company and GTR Property Development, the project’s developers, have previously defended the study, known as a mitigated negative declaration.

One major issue the residents point to in the report is that the authors used the city of Poway in San Diego County as precedent for traffic findings about Alhambra. They say the two cities can’t be compared.

The residents also argue in the lawsuit that a mitigated negative declaration may not be used unless the agency preparing it is certain “there is no potential for the project to have an adverse environmental impact.” But they say there are plenty of questions about the project regarding air quality, hazardous materials, traffic, parking, noise and water quality.

Mayor David Mejia would not comment on the lawsuit. But he said he has supported the project in the past that represent opportunities for new jobs and added sales tax revenue.

“At the end of the day, we just want to do the right thing for the city,” Mejia said.