PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
.com SERVING NORTH COUNTY SINCE 1987
VOL. #32, N0. #24
JUNE 15, 2018
Lilac Hills Ranch to head to Board of Supervisors
SAN MARCOS -NEWS
Blakespear will seek .com re-election
By Aaron Burgin
REGION — A proposed 1,700-home master planned community near Valley Center is headed to the County Board of Supervisors, after the County Planning Commission voted June 8 not to rehear the project. But opponents of the project said they likely will sue to have it reheard by the planning group. The commission voted 5-0, with two commissioners absent, to advance the Lilac Hills Ranch Proposal to the supervisors, despite staff’s recommendation that the body hold additional hearings to address what they called “substantial changes” to the project. The Valley Center Community Planning Group and a group of residents who have opposed the project since its inception urged the commission to side with its staff. Lilac Hills Ranch owners contended that the changes made since the Planning Commission’s approval in September 2015 were incorporating the recommendations the commission provided but developers did not explicitly include in their failed 2016 ballot measure attempt, Measure B. The commissioners sided with the developer’s argument. “All of the changes are to the betterment of the project,” Commissioner Bryan Woods said. “After 10 years, enough is enough, the board needs to make a decision and move on.” Lilac Hills Ranch Vice President John Rilling said the group is eager to move the project one step closer
By Aaron Burgin
to fruition. “We’re extremely excited because the commission voted first to confirm that we followed the process and second that we incorporated everything they asked for so the Board of Supervisors can consider us for approval,” Rilling said. “We believe this is a great community and is going to provide attainable homes for working families in exactly the right location, along the I-15 growth corridor.” Lilac Hills Ranch calls for 1,746 homes and a 200unit assisted living facility on 608 acres in the largely rural area adjacent to Valley Center and south of Fallbrook. It also includes more than 200 acres of parks and open space and 16 miles of trails, three community centers and pools, a village square and 90,000 square foot of retail, office and commercial space. The project is now under the control of a new development team, Ranch Capital LLC, and its subsidiary, Village Communities. Ranch Capital was a financial backer of the earlier version of the project headed by Randy Goodson of Accretive Investments. Goodson and Accretive are no longer involved. TURN TO LILAC HILLS ON A11
pened when I was flying, I would’ve died.” Still, she said the support of her kids, friends and family was a blessing as she recovered from her near-death experience. Her oldest son, P.J., 20, withdrew from San Diego State University for the spring semester to take on the matriarch role and led the family through the trying times. He will return for the fall semester. “He was good,” Jessica Poumele said of P.J. “He would come every day and see me. My kids are really tight.”
ENCINITAS — EnTHE cinitas Mayor Catherine VISTA Blakespear announced this weekendNEWS that she is seeking re-election to another two-year term in November. Blakespear, who voters elected in 2016, made the announcement in a newsletter to supporters. “I’m excited to announce that I’m running for re-election as your Mayor in Encinitas this fall, RANCHO and I wanted you to beSFNEWS among the first to know!” Blakespear wrote. Encinitas’ mayor became an elected position with a two-year term after voters passed Propositions K and L in 2012, which created the elected post and set the term of service. Blakespear became the city’s second directly elected mayor in 2016, succeeding Kristin Gaspar, who was elected to the County Board of Supervisors. She defeated Gaspar’s husband, Paul Gaspar, in the 2016 election by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. Blakespear, 42, in her newsletter touted the city’s environmental commitments — including the city’s landmark climate action plan update — the work on the most recent housing element proposal, road and rail corridor projects and commitments, and active engagement of the citizenry through various forms of communication as her successes
TURN TO POUMELE ON A21
TURN TO MAYOR ON A17
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Dr. Jessica Poumele returned to her duties on March 7 as principal of an independent-study program at the Clair Burgener Learning Center in Oceanside. Photo by Jordan P. Ingram
Principal back in action Dr. Jessica Poumele resumes school duties after stroke By Steve Puterski
OCEANSIDE — In many respects, she should not be leading her program, perhaps even be alive. But even a stroke couldn’t stop Dr. Jessica Poumele from getting back to her duties as principal of the independent study program within the Oceanside Unified School District. On Dec. 10, 2017, Poumele was getting her nails done when an artery in her neck ruptured. She was rushed to the hospital and
into surgery, which left her without the ability to speak and confined to the intensive care unit for a week. The news hit her family hard, especially her five kids ranging from 6 years old to 20. Poumele and her family suffered heartbreak in June 2016 when her husband, Pulu, suddenly died from a heart attack, and her stroke was another tragic family event. “It was hell,” she said of the impact on her children,” because I was in the hospital for three weeks. My husband has a lot of family and they were around the house. I was supposed to go Iceland. If it would hap-
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