A Superior Court judge Friday rejected claims in a lawsuit filed by La Jolla business owners upset with a foul odor along the scenic coastline believed to be caused by sea lion and bird droppings.
In confirming his previously tentative ruling, Judge Timothy Taylor granted the city of San Diego's motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit filed two years ago by Citizens for Odor Nuisance Abatement.
Norm Blumenthal, the plaintiff's lawyer, said after the hearing that he will appeal. But the City Attorney's Office said the odors are part of the risks of being situated near a marine environment.
“Sea lions are proliferating throughout California, and that is neither the fault nor the responsibility of San Diego,” said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith in a statement. “The city can address the pooping habits of wild animals as a policy matter, but it cannot be compelled to do so by the courts.”
The judge ruled the city doesn't have a duty to control any nuisance caused by wild animals and isn't the cause of the odor.
Blumenthal contended the city took on the duty when former Mayor Bob Filner signed a May 2013 executive order calling for guano left by cormorants to be cleaned up.
"There is no evidence this order is out of effect," Blumenthal said during oral arguments.
The city had taken a couple of steps to alleviate the odor, including spraying a microbial foam on the rocks and installing a gate in a fence — in hopes that an increased presence of people on the bluffs would deter the sea lions from taking up residence in the area.
The lawyer said the bird stench was cleaned up only to be replaced by a sea lion odor.
"They didn't finish the job," Blumenthal said. "Two years tells you nothing is going to get done, and people are suffering for it."
Citizens for Odor Nuisance Abatement claimed that the city and Todd Gloria, who succeeded Filner for six months before current Mayor Kevin Faulconer took office, failed to abate a public nuisance. The city argued that the odor was among the risks and benefits of being located beside a marine environment.
The city's lawyer, Glenn Spitzer, told the judge that the document from Filner wasn't an executive order, but a memo. He didn't comment after the hearing.
The judge said the issues were best decided in "the political realm"
Blumenthal said it could take one year to get an appellate ruling.
