Group of residents sue Riverside County over Thermal Ranch project
THERMAL, Calif. (KESQ) - A group of Coachella Valley residents has filed a lawsuit against Riverside County to prevent the Thermal Ranch project, the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability announced on Tuesday.
The Thermal Ranch project is a massive 619-acre development centered around a 231-acre luxury equestrian center that will provide a new, permanent home for the Desert International Horse Park.
It's set to be located on Harrison Street and 62nd Avenue in Thermal, a couple of miles down the road from the horse park’s current location. It is 30% larger than the current horse park.
According to developers, the project will also include 110 custom estate homes, 161 single-family homes, 191 condominiums, workforce housing, an RV park, and a future phase consisting of a hotel, resort condominiums, and a retail/entertainment center.
Developers have said the project will exceed $1 billion. The Board of Supervisors approved the Thermal Ranch project in December.
Semillas de Resistencia, a community organization formed by Coachella residents in response to large-scale development projects in their region, has argued for years that the project will increase air pollution, and without requiring a detailed plan for safely handling 140,000 pounds of manure per day.
In their lawsuit, filed on January 16, the group alleges that the county violated environmental law by approving the project based on a flawed and misleading environmental review, putting nearby residents at risk of increased air pollution and unsafe manure management.
The group is challenging the county’s certification of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), saying that it "acknowledges significant and unavoidable harms to air quality and agricultural land, but rejects feasible mitigation measures to reduce these impacts and also relies on vague, shifting, and incomplete descriptions of key project operations."
“The county did not take us or our experiences into account when making their decision; they did not consider the consequences it would have on us,” said a member of Semillas de Resistencia who lives near the proposed project.
The Thermal Ranch project would also include new supporting infrastructure, including a 5-million gallon water reservoir and a new a 58-megavolt electrical substation. Developers said the project would need half of the water and 21 megavolts, the rest would be available for other uses.
Semillas de Resistencia argues that nearby communities and Polanco parks — most of which still lack access to reliable water and services — would not directly benefit from this investment.
Other issues the group has highlighted include the project’s equestrian operations and management, including how animal waste, odors, air emissions, and potential groundwater contamination would be managed.
“Residents living near this project have a right to know that all necessary steps will be taken to protect the quality of the air they breathe and water they drink,” said Seth Alston, Staff Attorney with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, who is assisting with the lawsuit. “The environmental review of this project was deeply flawed and must be corrected.”
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