LAFCO annexes Chandler Ranch into NCFPD

San Diego County's Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) approved the annexation of Chandler Ranch into the North County Fire Protection District (NCFPD).

The 7-0 LAFCO board vote Aug. 1, with Bill Horn absent, annexed approximately 77 1/2 acres into the NCFPD boundaries while detaching that area from the San Diego County Regional Fire Authority (SDCRFA) territory. The land is adjacent to what had already been part of NCFPD, including some of the Chandler Ranch land itself.

"The North County Fire Protection District can provide these services," said LAFCO senior analyst Joe Serrano.

Chandler Ranch, which is off of Conquistador Road in De Luz, is bordered by De Luz Road on the west and by land already within the NCFPD boundaries on the east. In August 2013 a tentative map to create four residential parcels and a remainder parcel was approved by the director of the county's Department of Planning and Development Services and included the condition that the area not already part of NCFPD be annexed into the district. That condition was acceptable to property owners Jeffery and Charlotte Chandler, who requested the annexation.

The residential lot sizes created by what is actually the reconfiguration of four legal parcels rather than a lot split will vary from 20.7 to 24.5 acres. The land has A70 Limited Agricultural zoning and its RL-20 land use designation stipulates rural land with a maximum density of one dwelling unit per 20 acres. The property is already within the Fallbrook Public Utility District boundary so FPUD will provide water to the property, although FPUD does not have sewer latent powers in De Luz and an on-site septic system will be used.

The entire Chandler Ranch property totals 110.3 acres including the land which had already been part of NCFPD's territory. Conquistador Road will be annexed into the fire district so the annexation area is listed as 77.58 acres when the road is included and 77.4 acres when only parcels are considered to be annexed.

Because no rezone or general plan amendment was involved the lot reconfiguration itself did not need San Diego County Board of Supervisors approval, but the county supervisors must approve a property tax exchange resolution before LAFCO can consider any proposal for a jurisdictional change. A 4-0 Board of Supervisors vote June 22, with Greg Cox in Sacramento, approved the property tax exchange resolution which will transfer seven percent of the one percent base property tax from the SDCRFA to NCFPD.

"The board concurred with staff's recommendation and adopted the property tax exchange resolution regarding the proposed jurisdictional change," said Horn.

County staff worked with NCFPD staff on an exchange of property tax revenues, which reflects that NCFPD rather than the county agency will likely be serving the transferred territory. The property tax payment for the Chandler Ranch land during Fiscal Year 2014-15 was $5,453.29, so seven percent of that would equate to $381.73. The county received $837.52 of that total payment, so the amount which would be transferred is approximately 45.57 percent of the county's revenue. If the parcels are sold they would be reassessed based on the sale value, and the development of the parcels would also add the value of the buildings to the assessed amount.

The area was already within the NCFPD sphere of influence, so no sphere of influence update was needed. "We have a pretty straightforward annexation," said Serrano.