Over
40 local community, climate, labor, environmental justice, and conservation
organizations sent a letter today to the Escondido City Council recommending milestones to be achieved prior to the
city moving forward with any consideration of Harvest Hills.
The
letter outlines significant policy conflicts between the proposed project,
San Diego County, and Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) policies, fire
disaster prevention, and formalized and proposed habitat plans.
The best overview can be seen on this
2-minute video https://fb.watch/3Fnt49v6uX/ and
a petition to sign to join the opposition.
Harvest Hills proposes to radically expand the wildland/urban
interface and, if constructed, would threaten local and on-site residents and
the world-famous Safari Park in the event of fire.
In
the three years since the DEIR comment period was closed, several important
actions have not been taken and new policies and more visible realities have
worsened the prospects of this project.
Locating
sprawl development in a Very High Fire Severity Zone is increasingly being
opposed by our
organizations, local
residents, and the California Attorney General.
The organizations urge the City to require the following actions prior to
advancing the CEQA review and rendering a decision on the project at the City:
1. The Annexation
Agreement needed to proceed with LAFCO Sphere of Influence and annexation
decisions is fully executed;
2. A favorable
position for the project has been adopted by the County of San Diego
demonstrating that incompatibilities are resolved;
3. A full and
detailed economic impact analysis is completed which makes transparent to
existing residents and taxpayers the unfunded costs of this project, including
an analysis of fiscal impact of a partially completed project; and,
4. The new City Manager is installed at the City.