POWAY, Calif. — California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a lawsuit against the City of Poway, alleging violations of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, for failing to adequately address the discovery of ancestral remains and other significant archaeological artifacts, according to a press release from the California Attorney General’s Office.
The lawsuit centers on findings made after construction began in October 2025 on a luxury housing project known as Hidden Valley Ranch, being developed by Shea Homes.
The artifacts are believed to belong to the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, one of 12 federally recognized sovereign Native American tribes located within the Kumeyaay Nation. According to the Attorney General’s Office, the Nation has lived in the Southern California and Northern Baja California region “since time immemorial.”
The San Pasqual Band strongly condemned the city’s actions and said it intends to protect its ancestral lands. Chairman Steve Cope said, “The San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, a federally recognized and sovereign Indian nation, seeks to protect San Pasqual Valley and its People — ‘Emuu Kallkall – Pamuu – Ewiiy Hellyaa – Paawii’ — (which incorporates the City of Poway in San Diego County, California), the ancestral and reservation lands of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians.”
The first discovery at the site was an ancestral human bone found in October 2025 by a Tribal monitor for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians. In March 2026, two more ancestral remains were unearthed.
The tribe believes the area was most likely a Tribal cemetery and sacred place because of the type and quantity of artifacts uncovered.
Despite the significance of those findings, the city did not halt or reassess construction activities.
That failure to act raises serious legal concerns. Although an initial CEQA analysis was conducted on the land in 2003 and an environmental impact report, or EIR, was drafted, one core requirement of CEQA is that lead agencies must re-evaluate prior analysis “when there are significant changes in the circumstances and new information at the time that a lead agency takes discretionary action,” the press release states.
However, the City of Poway did not take any substantive action, and neither Shea Homes nor the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians was contacted regarding the discoveries.
Consequently, the San Pasqual Band filed a CEQA petition on April 17, 2026.
Cope emphasized the purpose of the legal action, saying, “These suits do not seek to stop the project, but to ensure full consideration and redress of its adverse impacts, including on our heritage, ancestors, funerary items, environmental integrity, and culturally and religiously important resources throughout the area.”
Following that filing, Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday in San Diego County Superior Court outlining several alleged CEQA violations.
The first allegation is that the city failed to reassess the initial EIR and reopen CEQA review in the five months since October. The city is also accused of failing to enact its own policy for situations in which archaeological artifacts are unexpectedly found during active construction. Finally, Bonta alleges the city failed to implement mitigation measures established in the initial EIR.
He said, “At the California Department of Justice, we’re dedicated to elevating the voices of communities too often overlooked and ensuring environmental justice and Tribal justice. We will continue to uphold laws such as CEQA as a cornerstone of both.”
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
