RIVERSIDE —— A judge ruled Friday that the North County Transit District has the right to close Shelly Drive in San Marcos and has followed the necessary environmental procedures needed to make way for the portion of the Sprinter light rail line running through that city.

During a three-hour hearing, attorneys representing the city of San Marcos failed to convince Riverside County Superior Court Judge Gloria Trask to accept the complaints they filed last August against the transit district's plans to close the street.

District officials said the decision Friday allows them to continue with construction of the 22-mile light rail line running between Escondido and Oceanside and a 1.7-mile loop designed to serve Cal State San Marcos.

The construction plans call for Shelly Drive, which is located west of Cal State San Marcos and south of Highway 78, to remain open for about a year as the transit district builds a road providing a new route between Barham Drive and the roughly 200 homes off the road, transit officials said.

"This ruling means 20 years of planning won't be undermined by last minute efforts to derail the project," said Jim Gilpin, an attorney representing the transit district. "It's unfortunate we were forced to spend district resources on legal fees that were earmarked for amenities designed to benefit the whole community.

"Hopefully, we can get back to operating in a manner of cooperation and the city of San Marcos will not try to stall the project any longer."

San Marcos attorneys wouldn't comment Friday about the decision, and disappointed city officials said they have not yet determined what they will do next.

"We will huddle up and see if we appeal or roll over and play dead," said San Marcos Councilman Mike Preston. "We will have to seek legal advice."

The attorneys representing San Marcos said Friday's hearing will not be the last time they are in court to discuss the $365 million Sprinter project.

The transit district and city agreed Friday to appear in front of the same judge on Nov. 4 to discuss pending litigation involving a license agreement they signed in 2002.

But Gilpin, the transit district attorney, said he did not think there would be any legal action the city could take to stop the closure of Shelly Drive after Friday's ruling. The transit district wants to close the street because it doesn't want to put a rail crossing on the site.

"Hopefully we can put this matter behind us," said Jerome Stocks, chairman of the transit district board. "The San Marcos City Council did what they thought was right, we did what we thought was right and the judge made the decision."

Judge Trask opened the hearing by telling the attorneys she had spent three days studying the hundreds of pages of evidence and had reached a tentative decision to rule in favor the transit district.

The attorneys representing the city, David Hubbard and Helen Holmes Peak, argued that the transit district did not have the power to close Shelly Drive because it is a public road.

But the judge relied on city planning documents and an agreement between the parties to determine the district owned full rights to the part of the road being closed and that the street was public only up until the district's property line.

"The district could do anything they want if it's their property," Trask said. "If they want to build a brick wall there they can do it."

After more debate, the judge also upheld her preliminary decision that the transit district did the environmental reviews needed for the project.

Hubbard and Peak unsuccessfully argued that the district did not properly assess how Shelly Drive would effect city plans for the area such as a realigned freeway interchange at Barham Drive.

The city wanted the case moved from Vista to Riverside to ensure an impartial judge.

"The city made a commitment to the residents of the neighborhood to resist the closure of Shelly Drive," said Assistant City Manager Paul Malone.

Besides Malone and Thomas Lichterman, the district's director of rail services, San Marcos resident Paul Cline, who lives near Shelly Drive, was the only other person in the audience for the long-awaited hearing in Riverside.

Cline said the decision surprised him and he questioned what type of access the new half-mile road between Shelly Drive and La Moree Road would provide residents in the area.

The new road will make it more difficult for the residents and emergency vehicles to reach the 200 homes off Shelly Drive, said resident Barbara Thompson when told of the decision.

"This is going to make our neighborhood very isolated," Thompson said. "The decision is very disappointing."

Contact staff writer David Sterrett at (760) 761-4411 or dsterrett@nctimes.com.