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Email Alert #25
July 21, 2002
Help Protect Important Habitat in South County and Stop Developers from Getting Out of their Environmental Obligations
***** Urgent Action by Wednesday, July 24 *****
Otay Ranch is a huge development (22,000 acres) in South San Diego County that includes land in the City of Chula Vista and surrounding unincorporated areas. In the original plan, worked on heavily by the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations, 11,000 of the 22,000 acres were to be set aside as dedicated open space. Now the first stage of the development is complete, 5,347 homes have been built in Chula Vista, and no open space has been dedicated!!
The original deal specified that high quality habitat in Salt Creek Canyon, Otay River Valley and Otay Mesa (vernal pools) was to be preserved as part of this first development stage. The developers now want to change the agreement because they lost control of these lands and will have to buy them back in order to preserve them. So instead they propose to mitigate by setting aside lower quality habitat.
The Sierra Club's position is a deal is a deal. The lands that were specified were done so because they are the most important habitat to preserve. The City of Chula Vista should not have allowed the houses to be built without this land being set aside. Now the County is stepping in. On July 18, the County Planning Commission overruled the Chula Vista alteration and recommended return to the original plans. However, the deciding body will be the Board of Supervisors. We need to let the Board of Supervisors know that the public is aware of this issue and that they should follow the lead of the Planning Commission and insist the original plans be carried out.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Phone your supervisor. It will take two minutes! Tell the person who answers the phone you are calling about the Otay Ranch development and you want to urge your supervisor to oppose any changes to the resource management plan. Make sure they take down your name and address when you call.
2. You can also fax letters or send emails to the Board of Supervisors expressing concern about the loss of protection for the valuable habitat of the entire Salt Creek Canyon and the Otay Mesa vernal pools, the highest priority open space lands in the original agreement.
3. Attend the Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday, July 24, at 9 am at the County Administration Building on Pacific Highway and speak opposing any changes to the original RMP (Resource Management Plan) and the conveyance plan. The original environmental priorities must be upheld! Janet Anderson (858-587-0919, janetaanderson@earthlink.net) will be attending this meeting and speaking for the Sierra Club. If you would like to join her in a joint presentation, please call or email to arrange that.
CONTACT INFO
District 1 (Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, National City, Coronado, Point Loma) Greg Cox, 619-531-5511, FAX: 619-235-0644, greg-cox@co.san-diego.ca.us
District 2 (El Cajon, Poway, most of E. County) Dianne Jacob, 619-531-5522, FAX: 619-696-7253, dianne-jacob@co.san-diego.ca.us
District 3 (La Jolla, Mira Mesa, Encinitas, Escondido) Pam Slater, 619-531-5533, FAX: 619-234-1559, pam-slater@co.san-diego.ca.us
District 4 (Central City of San Diego) Ron Roberts, 619-531-5544, FAX: 619-531-6262, ron-roberts@co.san-diego.ca.us
District 5 (North county, including Carlsbad, Oceanside, Fallbrook, Valley Center) Bill Horn, 619-531-5555, bill-horn@co.san-diego.ca.us
MORE DETAILS
Sierra Club representatives participated in the planning process for the development of the 22,000 acres of the Otay Ranch. The plan that emerged designated 11,000 acres of open space to be dedicated in tandem with the approval of development final maps. The Otay Ranch RMP was a triumph for the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations. It was viewed as a cooperative agreement between city, county, development, and environmental entities to effectively preserve some of the most sensitive habitat in South County.
The RMP requires each developer to dedicate one acre of environmental mitigation land for every acre of land developed. Because certain areas of the land set aside for the environmental preserve are more biologically sensitive than others, a conveyance plan in the RMP designates specific land to be preserved first. This land is 1,248 beautiful acres in Salt Creek Canyon, the Otay River Valley, and the Otay Mesa vernal pools.
The RMP was also cited in the County MSCP Subarea Plan as the basis for preservation of high quality habitat in the South County Segment. The Salt Creek-Otay River Valley areas were specifically identified by the MSCP and wildlife agencies as top-priority habitat, as well as highly
vulnerable to environmental degradation because it is located in the more urban portions of Otay Ranch.
For some reason, not clearly defined, the original agreements have not been honored and 5,347 building permits were approved of by the City of Chula Vista without any open space having been dedicated. The high priority areas of Salt Creek Canyon, Otay River Valley, and Otay Mesa vernal pools are not even being offered as mitigation by the developers of the first area, Village One, as was required in the RMP.
Not only have these lands not been set aside, but they suffer from lack of management and monitoring which they would have been receiving for several years now had the Otay Ranch agreement been adhered to.
Since the County never approved alternative open space dedications options for any development in Otay Ranch, the 1996 RMP remains in effect. However, Baldwin and McMillan, the developers of Village One, are now asking the County to approve changes to the plan for preservation of environmentally-sensitive habitat in Otay Ranch. The City of Chula Vista is actively sponsoring a proposal to retroactively amend the original RMP agreement in a way that violates the procedures set forth in the agreements. Instead of enforcing the original plan, the City is trying to change those requirements many years after the fact. This is in essence the proposal that County staff will be presenting to the Board of Supervisors next Wednesday. It is the proposal that was voted down by the Planning Commission on July 18.
The Conservation Committee of the Sierra Club has voted to oppose any plan that does not immediately include the originally designated environmentally valuable lands in the Otay Ranch Open Space. The County and the City must enforce the provisions of the original plan. They must refuse to accept dedication of open space outside of initial conveyance areas as mitigation for development until those areas are fully dedicated to the preserve.
For further Information, Contact Janet Anderson, 858-587-0919, janetaanderson@earthlink.net.
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