CWA approves Meadowood annexation

The San Diego County Water Authority approved a resolution to annex the Meadowood development area while accepting the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s terms and conditions for the Meadowood annexation.

The SDCWA board vote Oct. 24 also found that Meadowood’s Environmental Impact Report adequately addressed the potential environmental effects resulting from annexation of the area into the CWA, MWD, and the Valley Center Municipal Water District. The CWA approval sends the annexation resolution back to the Valley Center Municipal Water District, which is scheduled to approve the terms and conditions and make a formal request to San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO)

at the Valley Center district’s Nov. 18 meeting.

In January 2012, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved Pardee Homes’ Meadowood project which will include 397 single-family homes, 447 multi-family housing units, 13 acres for an elementary school which will be built by the Bonsall Unified School District, four acres of park land, 128 acres of biological open space, 47 acres of agricultural open space, 5.9 miles of trails, and a wastewater treatment plant. The supervisors’ action included certification of the Environmental Impact Report.

The Meadowood area is within the San Luis Rey Municipal Water District, which is not part of the San Diego County Water Authority, and the Board of Supervisors’ conditions included annexation of the Meadowood property into the SDCWA. The total property consists of 384 acres, although only the 267 acres proposed for development will be annexed into the water districts.

In April 2012, the Valley Center Municipal Water District board unanimously approved a resolution requesting concurrent annexation of that area into the CWA and MWD. CWA staff reviewed the documents for compliance with the CWA annexation policies, and in October 2012 the CWA board approved a resolution establishing preliminary informal terms and conditions while requesting that MWD grant conditional approval for annexation.

MWD adopted a resolution granting conditional approval May 14 while also adopting the resolution of intent to impose standby charges. On June 27, the CWA approved a resolution requesting that MWD set formal terms and conditions. On July 9, MWD held a public hearing on standby charges for the annexation to allow for public comment, although no action regarding the annexation was taken. On Sept. 10, MWD approved formal terms and conditions for the annexation of the Meadowood development area into MWD.

The MWD board’s Sept. 10 approval also approved the levying of a standby charge for the Meadowood area, contingent upon completion of the annexation, of $11.51 per acre or $11.51 for a parcel less than an acre. The MWD conditions include an annexation fee of $4,374 per acre, which is based on Calendar Year 2013 rates, along with a $5,000 processing fee. (If the annexation is complete by Dec. 31, Pardee Homes will pay a total of $1,172,420 to MWD; if the annexation is not finalized in 2013 the fee would be based on MWD’s per-acre and processing fees at the time of annexation.)

The CWA annexation fees include a $3,000 administrative fee to cover the costs associated with processing the annexation. The current CWA annexation fee is $2,929 per acre, which based on an area of 266.55 acres would total $781,896.55.

A formal LAFCO hearing for the annexation will be required, and LAFCO will also need to update the Valley Center district’s sphere of influence to include the area.