By DAVID ROSS
The largest piece of commercial property in town may finally be developed.
VC planning group Monday got a taste of a new proposed shopping center at Cole Grade & VC roads that includes a supermarket and 71 town houses.
The preliminary overview was presented to an audience of perhaps 70 residents by Gary Wynn of Wynn Engineering and Jim Chagala, a land use consultant.
The developer is Weston Communities, whose principals are Herb Schaffer and John Ashcar.
The development would be on 30 acres in the center of town.
“We have very viable tenants and very preliminary approval from the health department to proceed,” he said.
Wynn noted that the 30 acres in question is in an area that remained undeveloped because of the building moratorium, (1980-98) imposed by the County.
Weston Communities is not ready to make a formal presentation. “We are here to get preliminary feedback,” said Wynn.
Planning Group Chairman Larry Glavinic was guardedly supportive of the concept.
“It’s a great opportunity to do something right for our country town. It appears to be early in the concept stage and a rework may be necessary. It has too much of the flavor of a shopping center and not enough of a village,” he said.
“We need something we can be real proud of twenty years from now,” said Glavinic.
The chairman said the best example of what he’d like to see has been done in the San Elijo development near San Marcos.
“That was built around a park and around the park is commercial, and in outer ring is residential. They could very easily do that. What they have done is put a parking lot as the central element. It will take some creativity, but they can do it right.”
The development will operate from a conventional septic system with a pump leach field. No sewer or package sewer plant will be used, said Wynn.
The leach field will be on 43 acres northwest of the property, which Weston Communities bought two years ago.
Since then Wynn has been working with the County Dept. of Environmental Health to get preliminary approval for the system.
Before Wynn formally brings the site plan before the planning group, several consultants will conduct environmental studies of biology, traffic and noise.
But Wynn wanted to gauge the community’s thoughts first.
He seemed happy with what he heard. “I thought we had a very positive meeting last night,” he said.
“I think this project will be the cornerstone of commercial retail in that area and we wanted community feedback.”
Weston is looking at starting construction in 15-18 months.
The Roadrunner asked Wynn if they want to work quickly in order to avoid being impacted by General Plan 2020.
“Our understanding is that GP2020 doesn’t propose to change this commercial designation that’s been in place for many years.” said Wynn.
According to Chagala, the property is one of two parcels zoned C-34 in VC that can support a mixed use of residential and commercial. The other is Orchard Run, next to the VC community ballfields.
The land could legally support 14 units/acre, but only if the units were low income housing, which this is not, said Chagala.
Eighteen acres will be commercial, with possible tenants including a supermarket, pharmacy and shops.Another component will be office professional spaces.
The third component is 71 townhouses, each about 1800 sq. feet with a two story garage.
A public park is the fourth component.
The commercial properties will form a “U” within the property. A roadway will go through the property, forming panhandles on the Valley Center Road and Cole Grade Road entrances.
How much the designs shown Monday will have in common with the executed project is unknown.
“We know it will be subject to committee review. We will certainly work with the planning group and the design review board,” said Wynn.
Currently the proposed buildings are in what Wynn called “Early California,” Monterrey architecture.
In pitching the proposal Chagala said, “We feel this is a very positive thing for Valley Center. For one thing it will implement the plan that has been on the books for 11 years. When you want to get a bag of groceries you won’ t have to drive down to Escondido. It will cut down on traffic and fumes. Commercial operations will hire employees and professional people will have the opportunity to work in VC. The town home will provide places for people who want to stay in town, for people who can’t afford large homes.”
The town homes will also providing housing for retired people who don’t want to maintain large parcels, said Chagala.
Glavinic warned that the development, without a sewer, might keep adjacent properties from ever developing.
“I think it’s a nice idea what you’re doing but if this moves forward this might be all there ever is,” he said.
Wynn apparently agreed. “Our market studies have shown that the shopping spaces here will probably be sufficient for these areas.”
Eric Jockinsen, chairman of VC Community Services District asked if the intent of having a park was to avoid paying PLDO (Parklands Development Ordinance) funds.
Chagala said that was not the intent and the park would not be a county park. The $800/unit would still be collected for local parks.
Diana Sourbeer, of the VC Trails committee, asked if trails and paths on the development would connect to the larger community trail that has been envisioned. Wynn said they would.
Resident Lael Montgomery asked why the development couldn’t “look more like a village and less like a supermarket with a parking lot?”
Wynn replied that the development would follow the Valley Center Design Guidelines.
Phil Geddes, chairman of the Design Review Board, disagreed.
“I don’t think this plan has reflected the guidelines. When it comes to the spirit of the guidelines, I think you have failed.” Geddes compared the plans to a small mall he saw recently in Oceanside. . . “It’s monolithic. I would submit to you that you are not adhering to the ‘village complex.’ This is transplanting parts of Escondido and Oceanside into Valley Center,” said Geddes.
A woman whose children attend the schools expressed concern about the added traffic problems the development would cause in the Cole Grade/VC Road area.
Wynn said traffic studies will be done before his next appearance before the group.
“Keep in mind, this area has always been designated to be your town center. There’s a need for this type of development. In many ways this will eliminate some of the traffic because they won’t have to drive as far.”
Resident Angela Goldberg wondered aloud if people working at the grocery stores would be able to afford to buy the town homes.
Another resident, Frank Holmes, said “You’re building a commercial entity that will choke out the mom and pop businesses.”
The largest grizzly bear ever captured in California is missing -- and the Valley Center History Museum wants it back.
The animal in question is a 2200 pound bear that was captured in Valley Center in 1866, and was said at the time to be the largest grizzly ever killed in California. The grizzly has been extinct since 1924.
Local historian Bob Lerner said data in the archives of the VC Library indicate the skull of the bear may be at a museum in the south. He plans to travel to the area this spring and wants to have the bear skull returned in time for the opening of the History Museum later this year. The building is under construction on Cole Grade Road where it will share a 4-acre site with a new County Library branch.
Lerner said the bear, which had been terrorizing the region and was known to have killed both men and cattle, was taken in a field off what is now called North Lake Wohlford Road.
“The bear is an integral part of this town’s history,” said Lerner, who serves on the local history committee of Friends of the Library. He pointed out that after the bear killing, the community -- which had no name prior to 1866 -- became known as Bear Valley Township, a name that remained until 1874.
The legend of the bear capture was told about 1932 by Catherine Lovett Smith who, at age 6, witnessed the incident on the farm of her parents, James and Ada Lovett. Her recollections were recorded by peach grower, Edward Prince Haskell, who later became owner of the site.
The story is that the senior Lovett and several helpers loaded the dead bear onto a wagon and drove it eighty miles away to the ranch of Col. A.E. Maxcy where the animal was weighed on cattle scales. At 2200 pounds, it was widely touted to be the largest grizzly ever captured.
Col. Maxcy kept the skull for a number of years before selling it to an unnamed museum in the south. Lerner has already begun his search for the bear skull by trying to identify natural history museums in the south that were in existence around 1900.
Lerner’s last foray into historical investigation concerned the search for a 1795 diary which contained the first-ever recorded reference to the Valley Center area. It took him five years, but he successfully located the diary last year.
Three members of the family that owns Valleyranch Market in VC are among those caught up in a federal net of indictments that closed on an alleged drug distribution ring last week.
The net was closed by a nationwide investigation known as Operation Mountain Express.
Jubran Zalan Dighlawi, 32; Mohammad Abed Dighlawi, 39; and Eid Abed Dighlawi, 40; are all members of the family that owns the market at the corner of Woods Valley & VC roads. The market has remained open since the indictments were announced, although it was closed on that day.
Thirteen indictments were announced by Patrick K. O’Toole, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California. A total of more than 100 indictments have been announced in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Houston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Riverside, Fresno, San Diego and Carlsbad.
Locally the indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to distribute and distributed over 130 kilograms of pseudoephedrine, valued at over $325,000 on the open market.
The accused are charged with three counts of conspiracy to possess and distribute pseudoephedrine, which is used in the manufacture of methamphetamine or “crystal meth.”
If convicted, the accused each face 20 years in jail and $250,000 fines from two of the counts and five years and $250,000 fine from one of the counts.
The investigation was coordinated by the Special Operations Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s joint law enforcement program, which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Immigration and Naturalization Service, California Bureau of Narcotics, Pomona Police Department, Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Customs Service.
Locally the investigation was led by the Carlsbad office of the DEA.
The drug ring may have connections with overseas terrorism, according to FBI special agent John Ianarelli, quoted by the North County Times on Jan. 11.
The owners of the market (but not the property that it sits on) tried to sell the business about six months ago, but the sale fell through.
A public meeting to educate concerned citizens about the incidence of cancer victims in the Valley Center area will be held Jan. 26, 1-4 p.m. at the VC Upper Elementary Gym.
The meeting will be hosted by Dr. Hoda Anton-Culver, director of the California Cancer Registry for San Diego, Imperial and Orange counties.
While the meeting is intended for the parents of children with cancer and other concerned members of the community, anyone can attend.
“We will listen to the community and it will also be a working meeting,” Dr. Anton-Culver told The Roadrunner.
“Our purpose is to understand their concerns and questions and what they would like to know about,” she said.
The California Cancer Registry collects information on cancer patients The reporting of cancer is mandated by law in California.
Although some residents in the community suspect that the incidence of cancer may be higher than normal, Dr. Anton-Culver said the registry has made no determination yet.
A study may or may not follow the information gathering that Dr. Anton-Culver and her associates will make at the Jan. 26 meeting.
“We wouldn’t know that unless we collect all information and that’s what we’re doing,” she said.
Fifth District Supervisor Bill Horn has been invited to attend.
The California Cancer Registry can be reached by calling 949-824-7401.
The Valley Roadrunner
P.O.B. 1529, Valley Center, CA 92082
Tel. 760.749.1112 Fax 760.749.1688
Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
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