BUSD approves agreement with Accretive for new Lilac Hills Ranch school

The Bonsall Unified School District (BUSD) approved an agreement with Accretive Investments for Accretive to build a K-8 elementary school on the Lilac Hills Ranch property should the initiative authorizing Lilac Hills Ranch pass in the November election.

One 4-0 BUSD board vote, with Timothy Coen absent, was taken during closed session due to the real property negotiation aspect and approved the acquisition of a 12.5-acre parcel within Lilac Hills Ranch. A second 4-0 board vote with Coen absent approved the school facilities agreement between Accretive and the school district which includes the requirement for Accretive to build an elementary school.

"It was definitely an agreement they would build a K through 8 school on that property," said BUSD superintendent Justin Cunningham. "It was really setting some of the parameters on how we would phase in the growth of students. We would be looking at how that property would be developed."

Accretive has proposed 1,746 residences consisting of 903 single-family detached homes, 164 single-family attached homes, 211 mixed-use residential units, and 468 age-restricted dwellings for senior citizens. The 608-acre Lilac Hills Ranch property is in both the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District and the Bonsall Unified School District, although most of the residences other than the senior housing would be within the 201 acres of Bonsall district territory.

In September 2015 the county's Planning Commission voted 4-3 to recommend approval of Lilac Hills Ranch while placing several conditions on the project. One of those conditions was for Accretive to provide the land and fund construction of a new elementary school at a location to be determined. Accretive was supportive of that condition.

When the state's Fair Political Practices Commission issued an opinion that County Supervisor Bill Horn owns property close enough to the project to have a conflict of interest and would need to recuse himself from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote, Accretive sought to have Lilac Hills Ranch approved through the initiative process rather than risk not having the support of three of the other four county supervisors. Sufficient signatures were collected to place Lilac Hills Ranch on the November 8 ballot. Conditions of a Board of Supervisors action can be modified with Board of Supervisors approval, but conditions of a ballot measure can only be modified through another ballot measure and the initiative version of Lilac Hills Ranch omitted several conditions to provide flexibility.

The agreement between Accretive and the school district, which is conditional upon passage of Proposition B, can be amended by a majority vote of the school board.

"We also kept open the possibility that the property might be somewhere else," Cunningham said.

The site approved during the closed session negotiations is north of Covey Lane, east of Shirey Road, and south and west of West Lilac Road. That property is currently within the boundaries of the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District, although the approved agreement stipulates that the parties shall work together on a potential boundary adjustment which would place the entire Lilac Hills Ranch project or possibly all of the project's residential development within the BUSD boundaries.

The agreement stipulates that Accretive will be responsible for all costs associated with a boundary adjustment, although the process will also require the approval of the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District, the San Diego County Office of Education, and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors who would approve a property tax exchange resolution.

"Several things have to happen," Cunningham said.

Although the agreement specifies the preliminary site, BUSD acceptance of that site is contingent upon approval by the California Department of Education and the Department of Toxic Substances Control. If the California Department of Education or the Department of Toxic Substances Control determines the site to be unacceptable, Accretive shall either take actions to obtain the state agencies' approval of the site or identify an alternative parcel of equal size, value, and desirability for access and location. An alternative location will also be required if the boundary adjustment is not approved and if the Bonsall Unified School District is determined not to have a valid legal basis to operate a traditional or charter school outside of the district boundaries.

The school site must be in construction-ready condition when the property escrow closes. The title for the school property must be transferred to the school district prior to any certificates of occupancy being issued for Lilac Hills Ranch residences or businesses. Accretive will pay for the cost of all interim school facilities, or portable buildings, which will be required for the first 100 students from Lilac Hills Ranch.

"It also should have a school built on that land," Cunningham said.

Accretive will provide for the planning, design, construction, and delivery of a permanent K-8 school sufficient to accommodate 550 students. That school will include furnishing, fixtures, and other equipment funded by Accretive if not by a Community Facilities District which would involve an assessment on Lilac Hills Ranch properties. The school must be ready prior to the issuance of the 1,000th building permit for Lilac Hills Ranch unless the construction is delayed by the school district or by the Division of the State Architect. If Accretive chooses to form a Community Facilities District the school district will cooperate with the CFD formation although Accretive will pay for all formation expenses.

The BUSD board initially considered the agreement August 11 but tabled the item to allow for additional legal opinions whether or not the resolution would be legally binding.

"I'm looking forward to Bonsall focusing on the growth as we continue to expand in our population here," Cunningham said.