Supervisors seek $700,000 smart growth grant for Stage Coach Lane

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution authorizing the filing of a Smart Growth Incentive Program grant application which would provide $700,000 for Stage Coach Lane if awarded.

During their June 22 meeting the supervisors voted 4-0, with Supervisor Ron Roberts on travel to a California Air Resources Board meeting, to authorize the grant application and to authorize the county’s Chief Financial Officer to accept the grant money if offered. The applications for the Stage Coach Lane project and the Sweetwater Springs Boulevard improvement project in Spring Valley will be submitted to the San Diego Association of Governments.

“It’s a good approach,” said Supervisor Bill Horn. “I think we have a good chance of getting it.”

SANDAG has allocated $17 million for an initial program to promote smart growth development. The Smart Growth Incentive Program will fund transportation infrastructure improvements which support smart growth development.

Evaluation criteria include construction readiness, qualities and characteristics of existing or planned land uses, transportation facilities in the project area, qualities of the project itself and available matching funds. Eligible projects are rated on types of improvement including pedestrian and bicycle access, transit facilities, streetscape enhancements, traffic calming and parking improvements.

“It was hard to get that to fit in,” Horn said of the criteria which limits the unincorporated area’s chances of receiving smart growth funds. “This was one of the few projects.” Project readiness is one of the most important evaluation criteria, and the county’s Department of Public Works identified two ready-to-construct projects which met other criteria.

“We feel this is an excellent project that helps traffic and pedestrian circulation around the high school there,” said John Snyder, the director of the Department of Public Works.

Stage Coach Lane is considered to be within Fallbrook’s Village Core, and several churches and schools are located along the street. “It’s a much older area in an older town,” Horn said.

The proposed project would improve the roadway and install sidewalks along the south side of Stage Coach Lane from South Mission Road east, including along the high school.

The total project cost is estimated at $1,800,000, and gas tax money would be used in addition to the smart growth grant. The design for the project is nearly complete. “It’s basically ready to go,” Snyder said.

The Fallbrook Community Planning Group has expressed support for the Stage Coach Lane project.

SANDAG is expected to approve the smart growth allocations at its July 22 board meeting.

Supervisor Bill Horn used the remaining amount of his 2004-05 Community Projects budget for the funding of the planning and development of the park. “It’s important to make that happen,” Horn said.

The future San Luis Rey River Park will allow for active uses which will provide recreation and educational opportunities for area residents. The regional park will also provide open space for habitat as well as protecting the San Luis Rey River, and plans also include walking, bicycling and equestrian trails.

“The park will serve all five districts,” Horn said.

The park will also help protect the San Luis Rey River, which is almost entirely riparian. “We’ll preserve one of North County’s last free-flowing rivers,” Horn said.

In addition to the active recreation and habitat preservation, the river park will likely have another benefit. The park will allow the California Department of Transportation to set aside mitigation land for the environmental impacts of widening State Route 76 from two lanes to four lanes between Melrose Drive in Oceanside and Interstate 15. The decision to set aside mitigation land at this time is expected to reduce the cost of acquiring properties to mitigate the highway widening’s impacts and is also expected to reduce the time needed to acquire the properties. That simplification will streamline the highway widening efforts.

“We’ll continue to work closely with Caltrans in the alignment of SR 76,” said Renee Bahl, the director of the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

The allocations do not constitute approval of the development of any park facilities. No facilities will be developed until after the master plan and environmental review for the proposed park have been completed.

“In the meantime we can still acquire land,” Bahl said. “We just can’t do any park development until the environmental documents are complete.”

In May 2004 the county entered into a consultant agreement for design services to complete the draft San Luis Rey River Park Master Plan. The master plan will identify the proposed boundaries of the park and evaluate the suitability of land for recreational facilities and open space preservation. The concept plan, or the master plan without environmental documentation, is expected to be complete in August.

Horn’s Community Projects funds will assist with the development of the environmental, construction and design documents. “We’re very appreciative to Supervisor Horn for providing this initial seed money and excited to move on with our development of San Luis Rey,” Bahl said.

“That’s a wonderful project,” said Supervisor Pam Slater-Price. “This is a wonderful opportunity for the county.”

The environmental documentation is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete.

“I think this will help make it a reality,” Horn said of the approval of the allocations.