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March 2007
The owner of the property of the former San Marcos Highlands continues to try to get necessary permits for the development map that previously died in 2005. We hope that the property can be purchased for open space and are currently working to get Council approval so that government agencies and community organizations and raise money for acquisition.
November 2005
The San Marcos City Council votes to deny the extension on the San Marcos Highlands.
2005
the Planning Commission voted to extend the time limit on the San Marcos Highlands over the objections of citizens. Previously the Planning Commission had denied the extension and had voted against the approval of the project in 2002.
San Marcos Highlands has failed to obtain permits and now must ask for an extension. Governmental agencies, including the EPA, US Fish and Wildlife, San Diego County DPLU, have repeatedly expressed concern over the Highland's design. The latest permit delay resulted when KB Homes included road and utility easements in its wetlands mitigation plan. Sadly the project still involves the filling in of over 5,000 liner feet of streambed and places homes and Las Posas Road in a sensitive wildlife corridor.
August 24, 2004 Hearing
Planning Commission voted 4 to 1 to deny extending the timeframe for the San Marcos Highlands. However, the City Council can override decisions by the Planning Commission.
The San Marcos Highlands project (TSM 408) went before the City Council on Tuesday, August 24, 2004. The applicant received a one year extension. Council directed the developer to work with community residents to resolve issues on the project.
When the Planning Commission considered this project 3 years ago, they denied it. We hope the City Council will deny the project and encourage Mr. Kubba and KB Homes to develop the property in a more sensitive manner by not extending Las Posas Road and creating an adequate wildlife corridor through the property. By using the County's zoning for the portion of the site outside the City, the density would go from aprox. 150 homes as allowed by the City to aprox 30 homes. The less dense alternative allow the site to be more open, allowing for better wildlife movement. Unfortunately, the City of San Marcos, desires Las Posas Road at any cost. KB Homes has supplied the governmental agencies with an alternate alignment of Las Posas Road to Buena Creek. Although this alignment keeps the road out of the majority of the wetlands it takes the road through private property in Robinhood Ranch.
January 20, 2004
The developer of the San Marcos Highlands has spent the many years trying to obtain permits from governmental agencies. The project has serious environmental impacts which are making permitting difficult. We are waiting for the governmental agency's release of the analysis of the annexation.
Feb. 8, 2003
Over 80 people attended the Feb. 8th site meeting in the
field behind the Farrell home. Representatives from LAFCO, KB Homes
and property owner Farok Kubba attended. Many County and San Marcos
residents voiced objections to the project and concerns about the
City of San Marcos development policies. The meeting was recorded
on video so that LAFCO would have a public record of the meeting.
Feburary
8, 2003
Over 80 people attended the Feb. 8th site meeting in the
field behind the Farrell home. Representatives from LAFCO, KB Homes
and property owner Farok Kubba attended. Many County and San Marcos
residents voiced objections to the project and concerns about the
City of San Marcos development policies. The meeting was recorded
on video so that LAFCO would have a public record of the meeting.
FHC wishes to thank all the residents who provided tables, chairs,
food, beverages, took photos and especially volunteer Michelle Warn
who took video footage of the over three hour meeting. A special
thanks to all those who helped to inform local residents of the
meeting.
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Before the City of San Marcos can go forward with the proposed
Highlands project, it must get approval from LAFCO (Local Agency
Formation Commission) to annex the property.
1. It is 5-7 times the current number of homes allowed under county
rules - The County Planning Dept. opposes the project as designed
as do the EPA, CA Dept. Fish & Game, US Fish and Wildlife, and
Twin Oaks Planning Group.
2. It extends Las Posas Road to the tip of Robinhood Ranch. The
City wants Las Posas Road to be a regional arterial intended to
divert traffic from I-15 via Deer Springs, Buena Creek Road and
down Las Posas Road:14,700+ cars per day through Santa Fe Hills
and rural neighborhoods to the north.
3. It is located in the heart of the remaining open space buffer
between rural Twin Oaks Valley and suburban San Marcos - it significantly
alters community character and cuts off wildlife
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December 30, 2002
The EPA along with County Department of Planning and Land Use and
the Vista Fire Protection District officially oppose annexation
of the San Marcos Highlands to the City of San Marcos. Excessive
density, concerns over water quality, incompatibility with community
character, conflict with habitat plans and conflict with the County's
General Plan were cited as reasons against annexation.
Vista Fire Protection District, concerned the project lacked adequate
design standards to address human safety, listed excessive response
times and inadequate egress from the project site as reasons for
opposition. The San Marcos City Council, serving as the San Marcos
Fire Protection District fire board, approved the project in 2002
over objections from the community, Federal, State and local agencies.
October
14, 2002
Robert Smith of the Army Corps of Engineers has advised me that
the Corps will issue a permit to Kaufman & Broad (K&B) to
extend Las Posas Road . across Agua Hedionda Creek to the northern
K&B property line. The permit will probably be issued by Friday
Oct. 18th. Friends of Hedionda Creek has requested to review all
data connected with the Corps' decision. We can expect to see bulldozers
in the Agua Hedionda Creek Valley soon after the permit is issued.
The extension of Las Posas across Agua Hedionda Creek, although
not needed for existing Santa Fe Hills development, will allow for
the San Marcos Highlands (230 dwelling units) and the Murai (aprox.
89 dwelling units) to move forward. Although no application has
been submitted to the City for the Murai project we know developer's
representatives have had at least one meeting with Army Corps officials
regarding possible permits needed to proceed with development. Development
will generate revenues to pay for the final extension of Las Posas
to Buena Creek. As previously documented by the City of San Marcos,
the projected traffic for Las Posas Road will be in excess of 14,000
vehicle trips per day.
We are very concerned at the road's location through a sensitive
habitat area along an existing wildlife corridor. In addition, we
worry about the impact this traffic will have on the quality of
life of the residents of Santa Fe Hills, rural Robinhood Ranch and
all of the Twin Oaks area. Finally, we worry for the safety of children
within the Santa Fe Hills community who presently walk along Las
Posas Road to get to thier local school.
I hope you will take an hour or two tomorrow evening to walk along
the creek and explore the hillsides. If you want change you must
vote for it. You must legally fight for it. You decide the future
of your community. It is not too late! Take Action!
Please send a quick message to the people listed under "what
you can do". Tell them you are opposed to the extension of
Las Posas Road, the destruction of Agua Hedionda Creek, and the
loss of quality of life within your community the Las Posas Road
extension will cause.
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July
9, 2002
Although over thirty people spoke against the San Marcos Highlands
at the July 9th hearing, the City Council approved the project.
The vote was unanimous. Clearly it is time for change at the City
Council level in San Marcos!
Both City residents and County residents believe their best chance
for preservation of what's left of San Marcos' environmental and
visual resources is a full replacement of the City Council.
Three members of the Council are up for reelection this fall. Friends
of Hedionda Creek urges City residents to run for office. We hope
to give the City of San Marcos back to the residents and taxpayers.
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June
3, 2002
The Planning Commission voted to deny this project for very good
reasons. Commissioners Cindy Wedge and Edward Burns were the most
vocal opponents of the project. Burns said the city was neglecting
being a "good neighbor" and would never approve a similar
project in its own boundaries.
Wedge said rural communities near the city needed to be protected
and said she worried that having mule deer cross Las Posas Road
would endanger the animals and drivers.
Contact us if you would like to be on our
e-mail update list.
Select to see recent article in North County
Times located at the end of this section
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May
1, 2002
Regarding the permit application submitted to Army Corps of Engineers
for the extension of Las Posas Road across Agua Hedionda Creek:
Recently, the applicant hired a political action firm known as
the Planning Associates to help get the Las Posas Road extension
by applying pressure to state and local politicians. In addition,
they hired a new consultant who claims the wetland impacts will
be less then shown on previous studies. Friends of Hedionda Creek
believes that because the new study is based upon data gathered
during a "drought" year that the results are skewed in
the applicant's favor.
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November
14, 2001
San Marcos released the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
report for the San Marcos Highlands. Public review ends 12/30/01.
In this DSEIR the City claims that this project will have no significant
impact. The removal of 23 acres originally dedicated for open space
from the project changes the project to 230 homes on 202.9 acres
with a net gross density of 3.8 dwelling units per acre.
Since the majority of the land is in the County, the City will
have to annex the land before proceeding with the project. San Diego
County Department of Building and Land Use is not in favor of the
San Marcos Highlands stating that due to environmental factors the
density should be 1 dwelling unit per acre.
Several groups responded in opposition to the project stating that
the San Marcos Highlands will significantly impact the area.
Please review the aerial photos under maps and photos and tell
us if you think this project will have no significant impact.
1. Army Corps is processing a permit application to allow the extension
of Las Posas across Hedionda Creek. They gave the applicant several
additional extensions to produce an EIR for the entire Las Posas
Road alignment. In addition, the Corps has determined that the applicant
must either mitigate on site or at least along Hedionda Creek.
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May
27, 2001
Alan Schuler, Director of Engineering for the City of San Marcos
writes a letter to Army Corps stating the City's perceived need
for the extension of Las Posas road to Buena Creek road. Please
contact us if you would like a copy of this document e-mailed to
you.
The extension of Las Posas is the first phase that will lead to
more development and the eventual extension of Las Posas to Buena
Creek.
Friends of Hedionda Creek urge you to contact the following people
and let them know your concerns. Ask that a Public Hearing be held
to address this issue. You can download a sample letter to send
to the City of San Marcos. In addition, please fax a copy to Army
Corps and E-mail copies to the members of San Marcos City Council.
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Twin
Oaks residents praise planners' decision
Katherine Marks
Staff Writer
SAN MARCOS ---- Twin Oaks residents said Tuesday they were relieved
that the city's Planning Commission found some of the same problems
they did with a proposed 230-home development off Las Posas Road.
The San Marcos Planning Commission late Monday night voted 5-2
to deny the 230-home project called San Marcos Highlands, citing
concerns with its proximity to the rural Twin Oaks area and the
effect development would have on the area's wildlife.
The development is not dead: the plan will automatically go to
the City Council for review, Planning Division Director Jerry Backoff
said Tuesday.
Sandra Farrell, a member of a group called Friends of Hedionda
Creek, which has fought the project for several years, said Tuesday
she was pleased the Planning Commission paid attention to Twin Oaks
residents who live in the unincorporated area north of San Marcos.
Two-thirds of the 203-acre property slated to become San Marcos
Highlands, is in Twin Oaks, and developers want that land annexed
to San Marcos if the project is approved.
"They really seemed to respect the neighboring community,"
Farrell said of the commission.
Among Farrell's concerns with San Marcos Highlands was the impact
the development would have on the environment. The land surrounds
the headwaters of Hedionda Creek and is home to mule deer and other
wildlife.
The land should be developed with fewer homes, each on two- to
four-acre lots, she said. "This land can be developed responsibly,"
Farrell said. "It will take a fresh look. There are other solutions
out there I don't think we've tried."
Twin Oaks resident Rob Peterson said he saw the development as
an example of urban sprawl at its most offensive. "You wonder
how they could be foisting another 200 houses in the area when the
infrastructure isn't there," Peterson said Tuesday.
Developers, however, say the project will benefit the city. John
Nabors, a land-use consultant for San Marcos Highlands, said Tuesday
that two-thirds of the property would be undeveloped and that the
undeveloped land would surround the homes and provide a buffer for
Twin Oaks residents to the north. As further proof of the project's
merits, he said the commission has already approved the project
once ---- more than a decade ago. The approval expired and the project
was brought back to the commission with about 40 fewer homes and
other changes.
Nabors also said the development would provide modestly priced
housing for the community. San Marcos Highlands homes would start
in the high $200,000s, he said. Residents who are asking for homes
to be on larger yards are ignoring the fact that not everyone can
afford to live in large homes on several acres, he said. "Most
of the people who were objecting lived in estate housing that most
people can't afford," Nabors said, referring to residents of
nearby Robinhood Ranch, a community where homes are on five to 15
acres and many homeowners have horses. On Monday, Nabors told the
commission that San Marcos Highlands would fit well in the neighborhood
near Palomar College. The project is proposed at the north end of
Las Posas Road just north of Santa Fe Hills.
The commission's decision on Monday was not made lightly. After
a hearing that lasted more than three hours, commissioners visibly
struggled over whether to approve the controversial project, even
changing their votes. Commissioners Cindy Wedge and Edward Burns,
an alternate commissioner filling in for Jim Hernandez, were the
most vocal opponents of the project. Burns said the city was neglecting
being a "good neighbor" and would never approve a similar
project in its own boundaries. Wedge said rural communities near
the city needed to be protected and said she worried that having
mule deer cross Las Posas Road would endanger the animals and drivers.
On the other hand, Commissioner Leonard Clancy said the revised
project was improved because the park was increased from one to
three acres and the open space would provide a buffer for Twin Oaks.
In all, four separate votes were made on the project Monday night.
The first, a motion to approve the project, failed to pass 4-3 with
commissioners Burns, Wedge, Hector Decena and Dean Nelson voting
against approval and Commissioners Clancy, Jim Chinn and Michael
Sannella voting for approval. The next vote to continue the project
to allow the developer to make changes also failed 4-3, with Decena,
Chinn and Sannella requesting a continuance. A subsequent vote to
deny the project also failed 4-3, with Wedge, Burns and Nelson voting
for denial. With the project in limbo, the commission voted again
to deny the project. The motion passed 5-2 with Sannella and Decena
dissenting. Decena had expressed reservations about the project
and said he wanted it revised to include fewer homes.
Contact staff writer Katherine Marks at (760) 761-4411 or [email protected].
6/5/02
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County
planners oppose SM Highlands project
Dan Weisman
Staff Writer
TWIN OAKS ---- County planners have told San Marcos officials that
they oppose a proposed 230-home San Marcos Highlands development
that requires annexation of about 120 unincorporated acres into
San Marcos.
On Thursday, San Marcos City Manager Rick Gittings said the opposition
was no surprise and that project planning would continue on a timetable
aiming to meet the developer's goal of breaking ground sometime
late next year.
Perhaps the longest ongoing development issue in Twin Oaks and
San Marcos, the San Marcos Highlands project has undergone extensive
government reviews and challenges from nearby residents, environmentalists
and county planners almost immediately since Orange County developer
Farouk Kubba started seeking to develop the property in the early
1980s.
About 60 percent of San Marcos Highland's 203.5 acres sits on unincorporated
county land in the city's sphere of influence. The remainder of
the property, which is just north of Las Posas Road, is inside city
limits.
In a letter dated April 2 and sent to Jerry Backoff, director of
the San Marcos planning division, Gary Pryor, director of the San
Diego County Department of Planning and Land Use, said: "The
County of San Diego cannot support the proposed annexation of these
lands to the city of San Marcos."
Pryor said the proposed San Marcos Highlands project required annexation
of county land that would need a county review of its conformance
with current and proposed General Plan 2020 densities.
"The General Plan 2020 process proposes a density of one dwelling
per 10 acres for this area due to the rugged terrain and biological
sensitivity," Pryor said. "The proposed project far exceeds
this density."
Gil Jemmott, chairman of the Twin Oaks Community Sponsor Group,
said the county position combined with a letter from the Local Agency
Formation Commission does not bode well for the development project.
The sponsor group advises county supervisors on land-use issues
for the estimated 2,200 people in the rural Twin Oaks area bounded
by Escondido, Vista, and San Marcos.
The March 21 letter, from Local Agency Formation Commission Executive
Director Michael Ott, noted that state law requires city and county
officials to agree on annexation before LAFCO gives the project
final approval.
In the letter Ott said a new provision of state law "requires
LAFCO to consider the consistency of annexation proposals with city
or county general plans, comments from affected agencies and property
owners, population density and land use, natural boundaries, drainage,
etc."
"If it were my project, I would be very concerned because
the odds of it being approved over county objections would be very
low," Jemmott said. "My guess is it's going to be a very
serious uphill battle to get that annexation approved as it stands.
It becomes very unlikely."
Gittings said county opposition "won't change the city's perspective."
"Obviously, we will work through the issues," Gittings
said. "It's still moving along. I'm sure Farouk will be disappointed
by this, but I don't think it's a big surprise to us."
Latest plans for the development call for lots between 2,000 and
3,800 square feet containing houses with three bedrooms and up,
selling for $280,000 to $500,000, Kubba said.
Kubba said he anticipated San Marcos officials considering the
project sometime this spring followed by forwarding of city approval
to county supervisors for their approval.
Other permits are needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
the state Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
Environmentalists have opposed the project based on its disruption
of natural wetlands and coastal shrub habitat that nurtured, among
other threatened species, small birds such as the coastal California
gnatcatcher and least Bell's vireo.
If supervisors approve the project, and go-aheads from various
agencies are granted, the project still would have to be approved
by the Local Agency Formation Commission.
Contact staff writer Dan Weisman at (760) 761-4414 or [email protected].
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An
Earlier Article
Dan Weisman
North County Times
Hello. I'm Hedionda Creek and I'm mad as hell.
For those who don't know me, I'm that little patch of beautiful
coastal sage brush and riparian vegetation just north of Las Posas
Road between San Marcos and Vista.
Yeah, I'm a pretty special habitat all right. I've got a whole
bunch of sensitive flora and fauna. I've got a bunch of threatened
species running around such as the California gnatcatcher and least
Bell's vireo.
I'm what you call a "pinch point." That means a bunch
of cool coyotes and deer and other fantastic wildlife has to pass
through me to get anywhere from there. They're doomed if they can't.
That's right. And now I've got the "D" word in my face
from all sides. D-velopment. This development. That development.
I don't even know their names. Just a lot of them have me and my
ponds all bottled up like a bonsai display or something at the bottom
of the valley.
Don't get me wrong. I love people. I'm here for people actually.
If I could I would invite all of you to visit me, spend some quality
lifestyle time away from the hustle and bustle of big city suburban
life.
But I can't. You see somebody from Costa Mesa owns a lot of me.
And this giant national development company owns the rest of me.
Unless some nature conservancy, or lucky lottery winner who is an
environmentalist, spends about $5 million to buy me, these guys
want to fill my hills with homes and get their money.
Not that I'm complaining ---- much. This is America and people
own stuff; even environmentally sensitive headwaters for a beautiful
creek such as me.
But hey, look me over. Beer cans. Water bottles, wood and paint
chips. Tires. Truck tracks. Entire automobiles cut into large pieces.
I am so trashed, man, it's disgusting. What do I look like: Some
kind of dumping grounds for disposable lifestyles and wasted dreams?
And that's not all. I'm sucking down polluted storm water from
the residential hillsides and the city of San Marcos doesn't even
seem to think there's a problem. They're the only city in the county
to join a building industry lawsuit against paying for storm water
cleanup in the county.
That just ain't right.
Look guys. I AM environmentally sensitive. That run-off hurts.
The trash and pollution stinks.
I can't take it anymore. Give me a break already.
Here's what I want you to do. Write San Marcos Mayor F.H. "Corky"
Smith. By Mail: City of San Marcos, 1 Civic Center Drive, San Marcos,
CA 92069-2918; FAX: 760-591-4135; e-mail to [email protected].
Tell him what you think of the storm water stuff and the trash.
Write the Army Corps of Engineers since they need to issue a permit
for the extension of Las Posas Road across me as sought by developers.
Fax a copy of your letter to Army Corps of Engineers at (213) 452-4196.
Contact Robert Revo Smith Jr. who is their environmental engineer
at
(213) 452-3419 or e-mail to [email protected]
And if you really care, contact my Friends of Hedionda Creek by
phone at (760) 727-0311 or e-mail to [email protected] for more information
about how to save me and my friends in the flora and fauna.
So, signing off, for now, I'm Hedionda Creek ...
http://www.nctimes.net/news/2002/20020202/60635.html
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