CWA requests extension on Campus Park West annexation

The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) has requested an extension in the annexation process for the Campus Park West development.

The SDCWA approved a request to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) for the extension at the Dec. 8 CWA board meeting.

MWD's conditional approval provided in December 2014 stipulated that all necessary documents for the annexation must be filed by Dec. 31, 2016, but the lack of state and federal permits led to the request to extend the completion prerequisites to Dec. 31, 2017. The Rainbow Municipal Water District had requested that the CWA seek the extension from MWD.

"They just need an extension to finish up their permitting, which they expect to get done in the next couple of months," said Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy. "They're asking for an extension of time to make their final payments until they get their full permits to build."

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the 116.5-acre Campus Park West project in June 2014. Campus Park West will consist of 283 multi-family dwelling units, 513,000 square feet of commercial use, 120,000 square feet of limited industrial use, and 31 acres of biological open space.

Some of the land is already within the Rainbow, CWA, and MWD boundaries, so only 99.94 acres will be annexed into Rainbow, the CWA, and MWD. The annexation also includes 141.3 acres of California Department of Transportation right-of-way, although the Caltrans area will not be subject to the annexation fees and property tax assessments.

The first step for an annexation into MWD is for the CWA to receive a resolution from the member agency requesting concurrent annexation. Rainbow's board approved such a resolution, including a request for formal terms and conditions, in September 2013.

The CWA board then approves a resolution establishing preliminary informal terms and conditions and requesting that MWD grant conditional approval for annexation. CWA staff members review the documents for compliance with the CWA annexation policies which were adopted in 2006.

The only policies which were not satisfied were the payment of the annexation fee, which is part of the final conditions, and documentation of conservation measures and environmental

compliance. The estimated annual potable water demand for the area to be annexed is 270 acre-feet. The CWA board approved a preliminary resolution and request to MWD in May 2014.

MWD approved the resolution of conditional approval in December 2014 while also approving the CWA's statement of compliance with MWD's current water use efficiency guidelines.

The informal terms and conditions included an annexation fee of $454,520.12 based on MWD's 2014 annexation fee rate of $4,498 per acre and a $5,000 processing fee, although the final terms and conditions will reflect MWD's 2017 annexation rate of $5,536 per acre.

The property will also be subject to MWD's standby charge of $11.51 per acre or per parcel of less than one acre and to MWD's property tax of 0.0035 percent of the property's assessed value.

MWD's proposed annexation fee reflects the annexation of 99.94 acres of the development but not the Caltrans land, whose annexation would eliminate an unannexed area surrounded entirely by annexed territory.

The 99.94 acres includes 20.95 acres of biological open space preserve, and the CWA recommends that the open space preserve area be excluded from the annexation fee and that only the 78.99 acres for residential, commercial, office, and industrial use be subject to the annexation charges.

The CWA's annexation fee is $2,929 per acre, so the total CWA annexation fee for 78.99 acres would be $231,361.71 along with a $3,000 processing fee. The exemption of the 20.95-acre biological open space preserve area would include a condition prohibiting the use of water supplied by the CWA on any part of the preserve.

The CWA's next step was to adopt a resolution accepting MWD's conditional approval and requesting that MWD set formal terms and conditions. The CWA approved that resolution and request in January 2015.

MWD's next step is to adopt a resolution along with consent for the annexation while fixing terms and conditions. The CWA follows by adopting the resolution to approve, conditionally approve, or deny the annexation and accepting MWD's terms and conditions for any approval.

San Diego County's Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which is responsible for jurisdictional boundary changes, then files a notice of completion after the terms and conditions of the water agencies are satisfied.

In February 2015, the LAFCO board voted to annex Campus Park West into Rainbow, the CWA, and MWD while detaching that area from the San Luis Rey Municipal Water District. That action left final approval from the CWA and MWD as well as the final paperwork and fee payments.

A reorganization also requires a sphere of influence update, although during the April 2014 LAFCO proceedings which transferred the planned Meadowood development from the San Luis Rey Municipal Water District into the Valley Center Municipal Water District and from the San Diego County Regional Fire Authority into the North County Fire Protection District, the LAFCO board updated the sphere of influence, along with a municipal service review study which determines boundaries best served by a particular agency, for a larger area including the Campus Park West land.

The notice of completion will require approval from the various permitting agencies as well as the satisfaction of other conditions. Campus Park West is currently addressing cultural resources issues. "They're working down in the wetlands area," Kennedy said. "Getting federal permits is sometimes a challenge."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the federal agency whose permit is pending. Permits must also be obtained from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and from the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

"The land use process is really outside of our purview," Kennedy said. "We're just kind of a conduit for the developer to move the process along."

Kennedy asked the CWA to request an extension in November. "It was administrative on our part, but it had to be sent to the Water

Authority board," he said.

"It's really a Water Authority board and a Metropolitan board thing at this point," Kennedy said. "It's a fairly ministerial process here."

MWD's general manager can grant a one-year extension upon findings that no significant circumstances have changed. Rainbow will be responsible for an additional $1,500 processing fee to cover MWD staff time, although Campus Park West will cover that cost. The CWA did not assess an additional fee to process the extension request.