Pala purchases Gregory Canyon Landfill property

The Pala Band of Mission Indians purchased the land which was targeted for the planned Gregory Canyon Landfill.

The real estate transaction deed was recorded with the county Nov. 17.

"The tribe is beyond excited that this battle is finally over and that the sacred site is going to be protected forever," said Pala environmental director and tribal historic preservation officer Shasta Gaughen.

In November 1994, the county's voters approved Proposition C, which created the Solid Waste Facility zoning category and rezoned the Gregory Canyon area to give it the Solid Waste Facility designation. Gregory Canyon, Ltd. (GCL) was unable to obtain all of the necessary permits for an actual landfill operation, and GCL eventually became the entity owning the total property consisting of approximately 1,700 acres, which includes a buffer area as well as the site of what would have been the landfill.

The Pala tribe purchased approximately 700 of those 1,700 acres. "We're still sort of surveying it out," said Gaughen.

The land purchased by the tribe includes the Luiseno sacred site on Gregory Mountain.

"That was the whole structure of the deal," said Gaughen. "We wanted everything that has sacred significance or cultural significance."

Although GCL still owns the remaining approximate 1,000 acres, the purchase eliminates the possibility of a landfill in Gregory Canyon.

"There won't be a landfill," said Gaughen. "The portion that we purchased is the only place that a landfill could go on this property."

The Pala tribe does not intend to erect any structures on the land it purchased.

"The tribe's plan is to manage it as natural space," Gaughen said. "It's going to be maintained in its current state."

The buffer area included the former Verboom Dairy, which was the last dairy along the San Luis Rey River, and GCL maintains ownership of the Verboom Dairy property as well as other land.

"They plan to do some other sort of housing or commercial development," said Gaughen.

Because the Solid Waste Facility zoning classification was created by voter initiative, the county's Zoning Ordinance has no specifications about what else is allowed or prohibited on land with such zoning. A parcel in Otay Mesa was subsequently rezoned for Solid Waste Facility use by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. GCL will thus likely need to rezone the property for the residential and commercial structures to be built.

"They're going to have to do it through the ballot box," Gaughen said. "The initiative made that a requirement that it could only be changed through a subsequent initiative."

The land still owned by GCL is also subject to Native American monitoring to ensure that no Luiseno artifacts or other cultural remnants are disturbed.

"They still have to go through the consultation process for any permits they have to obtain," Gaughen said. "There still will be involvement by tribes."

Negotiations between Pala and GCL to purchase the property began in September.

"It took a while to get to a point where we all could agree," said Gaughen.