Palo Alto To Sue High-Speed Rail Authority

The Palo Alto City Council decided late Monday night to pursue litigation against the California High-Speed Rail Authority over its environmental impact report on one of the state's largest public transportation projects.

The bold decision was made in a closed session following a lengthy public meeting in which the council also unanimously voted to adopt a resolution expressing no confidence in the agency overseeing the sprawling statewide effort.

The legal action, which will join with that being taken by Atherton, will challenge the recently re-certified Bay Area to Central Valley High-Speed Train Program Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS). Menlo Park will decide tonight whether it too will join the lawsuit.

"While we regret having to resort to this action, Palo Alto was left with few options," said Mayor Pat Burt in a statement. "We are hopeful that our decision will lead to correcting flaws in the Program EIR and ensure that the Project EIR provides a quality analysis of the true impacts of High Speed Rail to the Peninsula communities it will pass through."

The EIR/EIS came under heavy fire by Peninsula city governments over what was considered to be an inadequate assessment of land use impacts--namely noise and vibration--along the proposed train corridor.

The no-confidence resolution cites an "overwhelming number of facts" that have "led us to believe that the only reasonable alternative is to stop the [high-speed rail] project now."

The decision was motivated by a ridership study, cost, the project's business plan, its impact on the community and the relationship between the city and the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA).

The move was in part designed to increase the city's bargaining power in decisions around high-speed rail. By publicly advocating against the project, the CHSRA may have to pay closer attention to the city's demands in order to gain the upper hand in the battle to pacify an increasingly skeptical public.

Residents relentlessly assaulted the CHSRA during public comments, echoing the opinions of the council's High-Speed Rail Subcommittee, which officially recommended last week that the full council adopt the resolution during Monday's meeting.

"The destruction that high-speed rail would bring to Palo Alto is unacceptable," said Palo Alto resident Terry Holszemer. "The quality of life we enjoy in this community would be literally torn in half."

Vice Mayor Sid Espinosa was first from behind the council desk to open fire, skewering the Authority's ridership study that was torn apart in July by UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies (see full report in side column).

"As soon as you start seeing faulty data," said Espinosa, "You really have to start questioning what type of partnership you have."