RE: 'Dec. 19 Pardee density plan by Jennifer Jeffries'

This is in response to Jennifer Jeffries’ well written letter to the editor (12/15/05) requesting we join her in a quest to stop the efforts for an increase in dwelling density by Pardee on their development on the old HP property.

She explained her background in the area; therefore, I wish to provide some background where I am coming from. I’ve been a resident in the county since 1938, born in Escondido. Part of my family has continuously resided in the county since 1866, only a short distance from here adjacent to Mt. Palomar. My family has been in farming and other entrepreneurial business as they brought up families here. I returned here in the ’90s from other locations in the county to live where the temperatures are mild, never getting below 40 or higher than 90 degrees, of course depending on where in the area you are living. And to keep ahead of the traffic congestion, by being north of SR-78.

Jennifer, by coming to live in the area in 1988, probably didn’t develop the housing where she is living; some developer gave her the opportunity to reside here. You should have seen the Fallbrook area in the ’40s, when I first saw it, but no one considered trying to thwart development at that time. The development in Fallbrook really started in 1972 when developers in the movie business tried to encourage others by moving from the LA basin. This is the basis of my response; a great many individuals have relocated here and the first item on their agenda is to stop the growth of others coming afterward. This mindset is not realistic; growth can not be stopped, only impeded. Unless you stop the population growth, people will wish to join here in Jennifer’s quest to improve their quality of life. She should talk to Jerry Harmon, previous Mayor and City Councilman in Escondido. He spent more than 15 years trying to keep people out of his city by controlled growth measures. Another point: everyone has the right to move to areas they feel will improve their quality of life. This is not a first-come, first-served enjoyment.

I spent almost 20 years in another community in North San Diego and the local planners attempted to do the same thing by increasing the lot size. Lot size increased from half to almost four acres. Since that community is a bedroom community and the residents had to drive 35 miles to their employment, they left in the dark and returned in the dark. The last thing these residents wanted to do was mow the weeds on four acres on their weekends. The only thing they wished to do was have a comfortable home with an adequate yard for their family at a reasonable cost. That leads to the rationale for Pardee to increase the density, with the cost of land, development expenses and cost of construction, they have to have an incentive to carry out this project by keeping the units affordable. You can’t have it both ways; there won’t be affordable housing by giving up areas for open space, donating land for county parks, setting aside land for schools, fire protection and others. Some of these items are necessary to provide services for the future residents, but developers can’t provide services for adjoining areas and should not have to.

The hair on my back raises every time I read about some city/county official wishing to confiscate land from private ownership to make a preserve/park without adequate compensation or the owner doesn’t wish to give it up. Private ownership is paramount to our way of life as a citizen in this county. Therefore, a landowner has the right to develop his land and use it in the highest and best use. Only if the landowner works it out with the rules already on the books without using fraudulent means.

The last point is that “the accumulated and devastating effects on our community of the Gregory Canyon Landfill, Rosemary Mountain quarry… the ever-increasing commuter traffic on I-15 and SR-76…” (from article). Gregory Canyon and Rosemary Mountain are projects caused by shutting down of these types in other areas of the county and it is simply a “not in my backyard” reason why they are here… Look, we are on the edge of this county. What are we going to do? These entities are necessary. I-15 and SR-76 were created from the outside and Cal-Trans didn’t or couldn’t respond in a timely manner.

If you truly wish to exercise more control over the events, presently or in the future, maybe you should be working for incorporating both Bonsall and Fallbrook. Otherwise, working in the present situation, the developer is talking and he has from the beginning, as I was a business owner for some years here and listened, as we needed to increase our customer base. Find some middle ground you can accept.