The controversial proposal to move the planned downtown Merced High-Speed Rail station is now being challenged in court.

A group called the Community Alliance for a Sustainable Economy filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court on Oct. 8.

The suit seeks to prevent the authority from building the bullet train station on county land off East Mission Avenue and Highway 99 – a proposal that would be a departure from the authority’s longstanding plans to build the station in the heart of downtown.

State law gives special priority for the initial 171-mile segment of the bullet train to be built specifically from downtown Merced to Bakersfield.

Lawsuit Alleges ‘Unlawful Pattern’ of Actions

The lawsuit argues the authority, however, has already taken steps to switch gears from a downtown station to rural southeast Merced, without the required approval from California’s Legislature.

The suit cites the authority’s recent issuing of a notice of exemption from California Environmental Quality Act, with regard to environmental reviews for the proposed southeast station.

CASE also cited how the authority’s board in June approved a business plan that included the proposed southeast station on the train’s initial operating segment, in order to shave roughly $1 billion from the project and build it faster.

The lawsuit accuses the authority of an “unlawful pattern” of proposing to move the downtown station. “The (high-speed rail authority) continues to circumvent the legislative process by taking steps to relocate the station without legislative approval, public debate, or disclosure of impacts or consequences of doing so,” the suit states.

“Its issuance of a Notice of Exemption undermines ( the California Environmental Quality Act’s) purpose as a tool for government accountability and transparency.”

CHSRA Declines to Comment on Lawsuit

The Merced FOCUS reached out to the California High-Speed Rail Authority for a response to the lawsuit. A spokesperson for the authority declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

An authority spokesperson told the San Francisco Chronicle in a statement earlier this month that no decisions have been made regarding the station in Merced or its location.

The lawsuit was preceded by a “cease and desist” letter sent last month by California Rural Legal Assistance on behalf of CASE.

The coalition includes groups like Jakara Movement, Faith in the Valley, Lideres Campesinas, Communities for a New California, Building Healthy Communities (Kern), Unidos Network and Santa Clara Wage Theft Coalition.

The latest events come as authority Chief Executive Ian Choudri has found himself in the hot seat. Just last week, the authority’s board stripped Choudri of his sole authority to sign and manage contracts under $25 million, CalMatters reported.

That came after the inspector general that oversees the authority found consultants had billed the agency $600,000 in questionable expenses, including first class trips and visits to bars and nightclubs.

About The Merced Focus

The Merced FOCUS, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom covering Merced and the San Joaquin Valley.