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The Fallbrook Village News | villagenews.com | August 11, 2016
ELECTION
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validity of the signatures and if the valid signatures extrapolate to 110 percent of the required amount the initiative is declared qualified. If an initiative has sufficient signatures for the ballot the Board of Supervisors has three options: to adopt the initiative, to place it on the ballot for election, or to order an impact study. Once the impact study is completed the supervisors have two options: to adopt the measure or to place it on the ballot. On July 19 the supervisors voted 4-0 with Horn recusing himself to certify that the petition had sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot and to order an impact study to be completed by July 29, which provided adequate public noticing for the August 2 meeting. Opponents sought a 30day report period, which would have prevented the initiative from appearing on the 2016 ballot. An Environmental Impact Report was included in the project approved by the Planning Commission, so the county supervisors felt that a 10-day period for county staff to compile an impact report could cover the impacts of the changes between the Planning Commission version and the initiative version. “An exceptional job has been done by all to do this report in just 10 days,” said Supervisor Dianne Jacob. “It truly was a Herculean task,” said Supervisor Dave Roberts. “I think our staff has certainly risen to the occasion,” Cox said. The impact study compares the general plan as adopted in August 2011, the proposal approved by the Planning Commission, and the initiative. “The impact report breaks down a huge complex project,” Dave Roberts said. “The information is important,” Jacob said. “This is going to give the public additional information, clarity, and transparency on the project.”
Opponents of the project note that the report provides contrasts between the current general plan and the general plan as would be amended by Accretive as well as differences between the Planning Commission requirements and what would be legally required if the initiative is passed. “The information you have provided will help voters,” said Steve Hutchison, who lives on Munster Platz Way in Valley Center. “The applicant has one perspective and the community has another perspective,” said James Gordon, whose Adams Court residence is by the Lilac Hills Ranch southern end. “We will rely on the county’s impact study.” “I thank staff for a very fair evaluation,” said Pauma Valley resident Patsy Fritz. “We can now educate the voters.” “We believe the impact report will validate all the concerns that have been raised on this project,” said Sierra Club conservation committee chair George Courser. “The voters should have that clarity.” Although Lilac Hills Ranch would not be in conformance with the general plan as adopted in 2011, the general plan amendments included in the initiative would ensure consistency. “The initiative would comply with the general plan through the amendment,” said county Department of Planning and Development Services (PDS) project manager Mark Slovick. Accretive sought 10 waivers from county road standards, and PDS was supportive of seven. The initiative includes all 10 waivers, which will not require any eminent domain. PDS sought widening and realignment of curves for West Lilac Road, which would require eminent domain and take land currently used for agricultural operations but no residences and would also require the realignment of 11 driveways. The initiative
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has a 2.2F Mobility Element classification for West Lilac Road; PDS sought a 2.2C classification (2.2C has an eight-foot shoulder, 2.2F has a two-foot shoulder). A 15 mph design speed for Mountain Ridge Road is also part of the initiative version. The off-site road improvements have been retained in the initiative. The Planning Commission approval included a 2.2C classification for West Lilac Road with a 30-foot buffer and a 25 mph design speed for Mountain Ridge Road with tapering of the intersection of Mountain Ridge Road and Circle R Drive. Mountain Ridge Road is a private road, although its intersection with Circle R Drive involves a public street. West Lilac Road is a public road. The county potentially faces liability for accidents involving insufficient sight distance on West Lilac Road or at the intersection of Circle R Drive and Mountain Ridge Road. “There’s potential liability since they are our roads,” said County Counsel Tom Montgomery. “We need to be concerned with the intersection but not the road per se,” Ron Roberts said of Mountain Ridge Road. Although Accretive would provide more than $5 million of Transportation Impact Fee (TIF) payments as well as providing for the internal and off-site road improvements, TIF revenue can only be used to mitigate cumulative impacts and cannot be used for private roads, so although the TIF money would be sufficient for the county to make the desired road improvements near the project, other county sources would be needed to fund any widening or other means to increase sight distance and for any needed eminent domain acquisition. Accretive representatives also noted that internal roads will handle much of the project’s traffic, including south of the current West Lilac Road curve, and that the elimination of Road 3, which is part of the Mobility Element but which will never be built as the land has been purchased for open space, will eliminate the need to widen the shoulder on West Lilac Road. West Lilac Road would retain Level of Service A or B. The Planning Commission conditions included the necessary funding to build a new fire station or expand the Miller station, a community facilities district to fund a three-person crew at the fire station, providing the land and funding construction of a new elementary school at a location to be determined, treatment plant improvements to be made no later than the first 100 homes, and the commercial village to be built no later than completion of the first 1,000 homes. Accretive is willing to provide the treatment plant improvements prior to completing the first 100 homes and the commercial village before completion of the first 1,000 homes, but including those conditions in the initiative would eliminate flexibility so those conditions along with specific fire station improvements have been omitted. Accretive will still require Deer Springs Fire Protection District approval to build any home. The general plan has a maximum response time of five minutes for a village area. Although automatic aid agreements allow CalFire to combat structural fires or provide emergency medical service, officially CalFire is responsible only for wildfire suppression. All of the Lilac Hills Ranch buildings would be within a five-minute response time from either the Deer Springs fire station or the Miller station, but if the Miller station is not available the longest response times from the Deer Springs station would be seven to nine minutes. “This project will be in compliance with the general plan response time,” said Accretive
founder and chief executive officer Randy Goodson. The general plan amendment would provide conformity, and the project also has the approval of the fire district. “The seven to nine minute travel time was accepted by the Deer Springs Fire Protection District,” Slovick said. The lack of specific phasing requirements in the initiative creates a possibility that the project might not comply with the Park Land Development Ordinance. Only 19 of the 25 park acres meet PLDO requirements, so until an eight-acre public park in Phase 3 is built the project might not meet the minimum acreage requirement. “If only the early phases are constructed those early phases would not meet the PLDO requirements,” Slovick said. “There is no such provision in PLDO for interim parks,” said Accretive president Jon Rilling. “The initiative will comply with PLDO. This project will never be out of compliance with PLDO.” The project opponents include former Valley Center Community Planning Group chair Larry Glavinic, who is currently the vice president of the Valley Center Parks and Recreation District board. “Park offerings by master plan developments such as Lilac Hills are nothing more than private parks masquerading as public parks,” Glavinic said. “I view Lilac Hills parks as nothing more than a parasite to the public treasury. We would decline accepting those parks because they are a nonperforming asset.” Developers have the option to dedicate parks instead of paying PLDO fees, and a combination of park dedication and PLDO fees is also potentially acceptable. “You need to direct PLDO funds back to regional parks,” Glavinic said. Accretive representatives have been working with Bonsall Unified School District superintendent Justin Cunningham on an agreement to build a school, although the initiative only stipulates dedication of land for a K-8 school. “Lilac Hills Ranch committed to enter into an agreement with the Bonsall Unified School District,” said Rilling. “We are going to enter into an agreement with Bonsall,” Goodson said. “It is not a condition to build a school at that location.” A current informal agreement exists. “If someone signs their intention that would be legally binding,” Cunningham said. “We are comfortable with it.” “We agreed to those conditions,” Goodson said. “It is in the initiative.” Cunningham notes that the lack of a formal agreement, which would require ratification by the BUSD board, provides flexibility for the location of the new school. “We’ve got to start looking at how we’re going to balance things,” he said. “We don’t know the status of that agreement between the district and the developer,” said Sarah Aghassi, the deputy chief administrative officer for the county’s Land Use and Environment Group. “We have not been privy to any agreement between the school district and the developer,” Slovick said. Discussions between Accretive, Cunningham, and Valley CenterPauma Unified School District superintendent Mary Gorsuch have taken place regarding the transfer of the entire Lilac Hills Ranch area into the Bonsall district. “Lilac Hills Ranch will pay for all the costs for a boundary adjustment,” Rilling said. The agreement is not a condition of the initiative. “The initiative doesn’t say that they will build a school,” Cunningham said. “The voters would not be putting any type of requirement that a school be built,” Montgomery
said. “The voters’ decision would be silent as to the need to build a school.” The county could have enforced a Planning Commission condition to build a school but not an agreement between Accretive and a school district. “The county would not have any role in having any type of enforcement,” Montgomery said. Although the opponents could not keep the project from appearing on the November ballot, they requested that Citizens Opposed to Lilac Hills Ranch be the organization chosen by the Registrar of Voters to write the ballot argument in opposition. “The Registrar of Voters needs to make a key decision before Sept. 13,” said Covey Lane resident Mark Jackson. “This group has for 10 years now been involved in the project,” said Gordon. “It’s the most knowledgeable about the project. We are a dedicated informed group.” The opponents also hope for oversight of the initiative summary. “We want you to be very careful about the language in the 75-word ballot statement,” Courser said. The Registrar of Voters decisions on the accepted opposition a rg u m e n t a n d t h e b a l l o t summary will not require Board of Supervisors approval. Some proponents hoped that the county supervisors would adopt the initiative at the Aug. 2 meeting rather than send it to the ballot. “We passed everything the Planning Commission has thrown us with shining colors,” said Paul Schumann, who lives on Sunrise View Road in Fallbrook. “I am the next generation. I need homes,” said Cindy Buenrostro, who lives in Bonsall and will be a freshman at Fallbrook High School when school resumes in late August. “A lot of our traffic comes from our young generation coming right down to come from work,” said Kimberly Cole, who lives on Eucalyptus Drive in Valley Center. Although the initiative would approve the rezone and general plan, tentative maps which would be consistent with the zoning and land use designations would require discretionary approval as would major use permits for the treatment plant and the group home, so discretionary actions for those would also occur as well as for site plans since the initiative stipulates a “B” Community Design Review Area designator and a “D” Design Review designator for the area. “This Board of Supervisors will continue to have an official role in reviewing the tentative and final maps,” Dave Roberts said. (In the absence of an appeal the Planning Commission has the authority to approve tentative maps, use permits, and site plans, although the supervisors would make the decision if the Planning Commission action was appealed. A final map requires secured agreements to ensure that the infrastructure will be built and payment for labor and materials used to build the infrastructure, so the supervisors approve those agreements along with the final map. All discretionary actions will require compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Although grading and building permits require only compliance with a checklist rather than discretionary approval, CEQA compliance will also be required for those.) Cox noted that portions of the impact study would be used by proponents of the project while other portions would be used by opponents. “I hope that the voters will also find it helpful to them,” said Cox. “I think our goal is accomplished,” said Dave Roberts. “This report provides voters with the information they need to make an informed decision. It’s up to the voters to make that decision.”
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