The Encinitas City Council will meet behind closed doors Wednesday, Aug. 26, to decide whether to file a lawsuit, according to a special meeting agenda posted by the city.

The 3:30 p.m. session at City Hall, 505 South Vulcan Ave., carries a single item: a conference with legal counsel on whether to initiate litigation, citing California Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(4). One potential case is listed.

Under that provision, a city council may meet privately with its attorneys when deciding whether to sue. The city is not required to publicly identify the subject of the potential lawsuit before or during the closed session.

The agenda does not name the target or subject of the potential litigation.

What happens next

The closed session precedes the council's regular 6 p.m. meeting the same evening. Item 8 on that agenda is "Report from Closed Session (if held)," meaning any action the council takes will be announced publicly Wednesday night.

Mayor Bruce Ehlers, Deputy Mayor Jim O'Hara, and council members Luke Shaffer, Joy Lyndes and Marco San Antonio make up the five-member body that will deliberate.

Recent litigation history

The council used the same closed-session process in November 2025, when it authorized a lawsuit against developer WNG HHF Encinitas Apartments over a 199-unit project on Clark Avenue. That suit alleged the project's access roads did not meet the 24-foot width required by fire code.

After that closed session, Ehlers told the public in November 2025: "There's a spirited debate in our community as to what the fire code requires for 199-unit apartment building served by narrow streets, and we think it is best to ask the judge to clarify the law for the benefit of the community we serve, and for the developer and for the city," according to inewsource.

No source confirms whether Wednesday's potential case is related to the Clark Avenue dispute or to another matter entirely.

The council's outside law firm, Colantuono, Highsmith & Whatley, bills litigation work at $325 per hour as of July 1, 2026, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Interim city attorney Ajit Thind of that firm has served since December 2025.

How to participate

Because the session is closed, public comment is not taken on the litigation item. Residents can submit written comments on regular meeting agenda items to [email protected] or register to speak virtually at publiccomment.encinitasca.gov. The next regular council meeting after Wednesday is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 9.