Planning Commission to continue Meadowood hearing

The county’s Planning Commission heard public testimony on Pardee Homes’ proposed Meadowood development, but rather than make a recommendation at the Aug. 12 hearing the commissioners voted 5-1 with John Riess absent and Leon Brooks opposed to continue the hearing to Oct. 7.

The continuance allows the county, Pardee, and Luiseno tribes to have additional discussions regarding sacred sites. It also allows for a revised northern emergency access road which would avoid the bisection of wildlife habitat along with revised trails maps to avoid habitat bisection, and it also provides time to address issues regarding the Valley Center Municipal Water District’s desire for a 250-foot buffer between the on-site wastewater treatment plant and the nearest residence.

“There is so much agreement and so much consensus on so much of this project,” said commissioner Peder Norby.

The original Meadowood plans would have created 1,244 single-family and multi-family dwelling units, and that has since been reduced to 844 units consisting of 397 single-family and 447 multi-family units. The project would also provide 13 acres for an elementary school which would be built by the Bonsall Union School District, four acres of park land, 128 acres of biological open space, 47 acres of agricultural open space, and 5.9 miles of trails. The on-site wastewater treatment plant would also be constructed.

The Bonsall Union School District must enter into an acquisition agreement. Various federal and state wildlife agencies must issue habitat loss permits, so the placement of the northern emergency access road and the trails will likely be adjusted prior to Oct. 7.

Meadowood is one of four major planned projects in the area. Palomar College is under construction; on May 11, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the Campus Park project, and Campus Park West is being processed. Meadowood has been working with the other three projects on a comprehensive basis. “Our project is an integral part of this I-15/SR 76 community,” said Pardee Homes representative Jimmy Ayala. “We collaborated amongst ourselves.”

The 416-acre Campus Park project consists of 521 single-family dwelling units, 230 multi-family dwelling units, a town center commercial area totaling 61,200 square feet, 157,000 square feet of professional office area, an 8.5-acre active sports park, six neighborhood parks, a community center, five miles of trails, and 197 acres of biological open space. A transit center is planned for Palomar College while the elementary school on the Meadowood property will serve the Campus Park and Campus Park West children as well as the Meadowood families.

Pardee’s outreach began in 2003, and the number of issues of concern to the Fallbrook Community Planning Group has decreased from approximately 30 to five. “I think this evolution demonstrates that the process worked,” Ayala said.

Planning group first vice chair Jack Wood spoke primarily of the density and lot sizes. “We think that there are too many units. It’s too condensed for this particular piece of ground,” he said.

The average lot size meets the 6,000 square foot threshold of the new community plan. The smallest single-family home lot size is 5,300 square feet while the smallest multi-family lots are 2,600 square feet.

Wood noted that the overall area was allocated 1,400 units during 2005 plans. “They were never entitled to 1,200 and some units,” he said. “It was kind of a shell game.”

Wood also expressed concern that if the Bonsall Union School District did not build a school the project would have another 42 residences.

When the county supervisors approved Campus Park, they also adopted the project’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) which included a modification to reflect the January 2011 find of human remains which caused the California Native Heritage Commission to declare the area a “sacred site,” although monitoring protocols already existed and the county supervisors saw no need to realign Horse Ranch Creek Road to comply with California Environmental Quality Act requirements.

Palomar College is responsible for building Horse Ranch Creek Road, and the community college EIR also anticipated the possibility of human remains or other tribal artifacts. Palomar College has already been issued a grading permit for the road, and archeological monitoring provisions are in place.

“Those mitigation measures are completely inadequate,” said San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians tribal legal counsel Merri Lopez-Keifer.

The specific location of the find is being kept confidential to discourage public treasure hunters, but members of various Luiseno tribes opposed a road which would go over an ancestral site. “A road over their remains is not appropriate,” said Pechanga deputy general counsel Michele Fahley.

“According to our creation story, this is where the Luiseno people came from,” said Rincon tribal member Rose Duro. “This is a very sensitive area to the band.”

Pechanga cultural analyst Anna Hoover told the Planning Commission that the January find was not unique but complemented archeological finds from the 1950s. “As you go on there will be subsurface resources,” she said. “You’re going to find more things.”

“Our village site isn’t going to move. Our ancestors aren’t going to move,” said San Luis Rey band captain Mel Vernon.

“It’s a slap in the face to the significance of this area,” Lopez-Keifer said.

The existing Horse Ranch Creek Road alignment is covered under the current EIR. Elevating the road would increase the cost by approximately $700,000 due to additional fill material, and that would still create a road over capped burial sites if any remains are found. “You’ll still have a road over those remains,” Lopez-Keifer said.

Realignment of the road would have major design issues along with additional construction costs of approximately $300,000 which does not include additional environmental or engineering studies or right-of-way acquisition. “There really aren’t any better, more feasible alternatives,” said county Department of Planning and Land Use director Eric Gibson.

The biological open space includes archeological open space sites, although the confidentiality issue also precludes Pardee from specifically designating archeological open space.

“These are not easily solved, but if you don’t work together they’ll never be solved,” said Commissioner Adam Day.

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