{"id":149,"date":"2015-09-06T20:41:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-06T20:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esconeighbors.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=149"},"modified":"2015-09-06T20:41:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-06T20:41:00","slug":"enu-tries-to-stop-city-land-grab-impacts-to-felicita-park-hearing-on-oct-5th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/?p=149","title":{"rendered":"ENU tries to stop City land grab, Impacts to Felicita Park, Hearing on Oct 5th"},"content":{"rendered":"

On October 5, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO)
\nwill determine the fate of the popular Felicita Park.  LAFCO is a little-known, state agency
\ndesigned<\/span> to provide assistance to local agencies in overseeing
\njurisdictional boundary changes.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nWe filed a letter with LAFCO last week urging them to deny the request for annexation of property planned for Oak Creek housing development.   ENU Letter to LAFCO opposing Oak Creek annexation<\/a>. In addition, the County staff still have concerns. County July 10, 2015 letter to LAFCO<\/a>.<\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nThe Commission goals, in theory, are good ones.  Any boundary changes should:<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>Encourage
\norderly growth<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>Promote
\nlogical and efficient public services for cities and special districts<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>Streamline
\ngovernmental structure<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u00b7        
\n<\/span><\/span>Discourage
\npremature conversion of prime agricultural and open space lands to urban uses. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nUnfortunately, the LAFCO staff recommendation is
\nto approve, with some tweaking,  the annexation of land for the Oak Creek housing development.  The Oak Creek project goes against all of the
\nstated goals of the commission.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn order to do the development, land currently
\nin the County, must be annexed or transferred to the city of Escondido.  The Oak Creek annexation is not orderly, is
\nnot logical, confuses local jurisdictions, and converts prime agricultural
\nlands and open space into development of houses.  It is unfathomable how this project can be
\nsupported within compliance of LAFCO rules. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nFurther, it will remove part of Felicita Park to
\naccommodate flood control easements for the development and the developer failed
\nto provide city parklands in accordance with the city of Escondido requirements.   This
\nwill leave a smaller Felicita Park being used by hundreds more residents.  The County staff has raised consistent issues
\nwith the project related to the Park and transportation.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAs you can imagine, we are strongly opposed to this project for reasons we have stated frequently in the past.  It has too high a density  for the area, will cut down or encroach on 200 oak trees (including
\n100 with \u2018protected\u2019 status), increase runoff into two branches of Felicita
\nCreek, has an unprecedented zero-foot minimum buffer between natural resources and development, and wall-off the neighborhood with a high wall around the project. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nOnce developed, negative impacts to the creek,
\nthe park, the riparian forest, and the neighborhood can never be reversed.  In fact, once developed, the moniker Oak Creek will
\njust be a memory of what used to be there.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nWe understand that environmental and community impacts are not the primary purview of LAFCO.  Mayor Abed (who also
\nserves on LAFCO) and Councilmembers Morasco, Gallo, and Masson who are
\napparently unconcerned with environmental or community issues have already
\nruled in favor of the project.   <\/span>
\n
<\/span>
\nAgain, we offer our gratitude to Councilmember Olga Diaz for trying to secure improvements and a less damaging alternative for the project.  <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBut, LAFCO is supposed to be our defense against
\nthese kinds of city \u2018land grabs\u2019 merely to intensify development.  LAFCO is explicitly supposed to prevent the
\ncreation of \u2018islands\u2019 of jurisdictions.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nOne look at the proposed annexation maps tells the story pretty clearly.   Map of Proposed Annexation<\/a> Currently there are no \u2018islands\u2019 in this region.  If the annexation is approved, there will be <\/span>two<\/span><\/b>
\njurisdictional \u2018islands\u2019 where none exist now.      <\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe
\nstated rationale that contiguity exists across the I-15 for the county island
\n(Monticello neighborhood) is not rational. 
\nThere is no way to access the neighborhood physically from County land
\nafter the annexation.   The new city development
\nwill be surrounded by County on all eight sides of the annexed area. The
\nrationale that a \u2018point-to-point\u2019 is acceptable is more theoretical and is not
\nthe basis of orderly development.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWe hope that residents who live in the Monticello neighborhood are paying attention.   If this passes, they will now be an island in the city\u2014making them a sitting duck for future annexation.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOnce this mistake is made, it cannot be undone.  We are strongly urging the LAFCO
\nCommissioners to deny the annexation of Oak Creek and maintain the integrity of
\nour neighborhood, our creek, and our Park. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\nPlease attend the October 5, 2015
\nLAFCO hearing at 9 am in <\/b><\/span>Room 310, County Administration Center, 1600
\nPacific Highway, <\/b>San Diego <\/span>and oppose the Annexation
\nof Oak Creek.  <\/span>
\n
<\/span>
\nThere are more reasonable
\nalternatives.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
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\n
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\n
<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On October 5, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) will determine the fate of the popular Felicita Park.  LAFCO is a little-known, state agency designed to provide assistance to local agencies in overseeing jurisdictional boundary changes.   We filed a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Escondido Neighbors United","author_link":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/?author=1"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/escondidoneighbors.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}