By DAVID ROSS
Wednesday night a revolt against the County’s land use map bubbled to the surface.
Toward the end of a long evening of voting, planning group member Robert Hancock’s frustration reached its peak.
He interrupted an ongoing discussion, threw up his hands and moved that the planning group throw its support behind keeping the existing two acre zoning for much of the community plan and to oppose the County’s current “iteration” of the land use map.
Hancock’s motion occurred on the second night of the planning group’s point by point consideration of the land use map.
The group’s recommendations were forwarded to the County which will make a computer transportation model based on the density distribution. That model will only look at traffic generated by residential density and won’t factor in industrial or commercial traffic. That will be done later.
At the time of Hancock’s motion the group was considering a request by Stuart Lynch that his three parcels east of the southern Country Town node not be reduced in density from one unit per two acres to one unit per four acres.
The discussion of this issue by planner Rich Rudolf was interrupted when Hancock stated that the planning group’s voting to “downzone” property was “stealing” their property and violating their property rights.
According to minutes taken by the group’s secretary, Rudolf, Hancock said he couldn’t vote against anyone’s property rights and that all of his customers come into his business and tell him he must vote to support their property rights; that it is easy for those members who don’t live in the downzoned areas and aren’t affected by it to just take people’s property away.
Hancock said he thought that all areas on the map that had been reduced in density from the existing 1du/2 acres to 1du/4 acres) should be reinstated.
This issue had been voted on previously during the evening, (see below) and Hancock said that member Jim Yerdon should not have had to disqualify himself on that vote, as he was asked to do by Rudolf.
Hancock asked to revote on the motion concerning the northwest part of town, and to allow Yerdon to vote.
Yerdon asked if he was disqualified to vote on the motion to reconsider and Rudolf said he didn’t know.
Nine votes are required for the planning group to take a position.
Hancock’s motion, seconded by Sandy Smith, to reconsider the previous vote on the northwest 1du/4-acre area, failed to get the required nine votes.
Seven members voted for it: Smith, Glavinic, Mel Schuler, Frank Shoemaker, Hancock and Eric Laventure and Dick Kraus.
Voting against were Bruce Johnson, Carol Prime, Rudolf, Todd Ruth and Yerdon.
The current almost even split between supporters of the County’s map and opponents is likely to become even more razor thin since two members, Kris Preston and Will Rogers, who can’t vote yet because their nomination to the group await approval by the Board of Supervisors, support the County map.
Hancock later told The Roadrunner, “I basically said that it’s unfair to take people’s property without compensation.I think there’s some good things about the plan but there are some bad things about it. The only conservation that I can support is if they buy the property from willing sellers.”
Hancock added that only those who protest being downzoned are getting their cases looked it.
“The board and the County are only revisiting the properties that either wrote a letter or protested. If you didn’t show up at the meeting you are out of luck . I don’t think that’s fair,” he told The Roadrunner.
Many Comments
At the beginning of the meeting County senior planner Curt Gonzales told the group that the County had received 163 comments on the proposed map, which he said was the highest number of any of the 26 community plans being revised in the County.
Of those letters, 35 made requests that the County opposed. Six of the requests the County staff supported. The rest it passed onto the planning group to vote on.
Fifty-five of the letters said they could only support the proposed plan if “equity management” was included.
“Equity management,” or “transfer of development rights” TDRs, is a planning tool that would theoretically reimburse property owners who have their ability to develop reduced. It would allow them to be paid for the development rights that they lose, either by the County or by a developer wanting to develop a parcel whose density has been increased by the GP2020 process.
TDRs have not yet been officially adopted, Ivan Holler, chief of the county’s GP2020 process, told the group Wednesday.
“There has been a lot of discussion of TDR’s, particularly in the Interest Group (a committee made up of representatives of the building community, environmental groups, and farmers),” said Holler. “What would be looked at is the yield of the land today compared to what is proposed. The difference would be for sale or transfer,” he said.
In one such proposal the County would buy “development credits,” from affected property owners, bank them and sell them or retire them, Holler said.
Planning Group Chairman Larry Glavinic said he could only support downzoning large parts of the Valley if TDRs are part of the mix.
Planner Mel Schuler said he had a hard time understanding how they would decide “what is equitable. Equity is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t know what I’m agreeing to. I can’t support it.”
The group approved Glavinic’s proposal 9-2-1, with Hancock abstaining and Sandy Smith and Schuler voting no.
Restoring Lilac
An attempt by Glavinic and several planners to restore much of the two acre density in the area of Lilac, Old Castle and I-15 that had been downzoned to four acre density failed.
The vote was 7-4 (nine being required to pass) with Schuler, Hancock, Frank Shoemaker, Eric Laventure, Smith, Glavinic and Dick Kraus voting yes, and Bruce Johnson, Carol Prime, Rich Rudolf and Todd Ruth voting no. Yerdon abstained from the discussion.
This was the issue that Hancock later unsuccessfully raised again.
Hellhole restored
The planners also voted to support the land owners in the Hellhole Canyon area who had protested being downzoned in some cases from one unit per four acres to one unit per 40 acres.
They did this by placing the area in question in a “white hole,” which means that they propose making no changes as yet.
Many of the issues discussed last week will come back to the planning group as the general plan update proceeds.
It was one of those days for Pat Lucas, who apparently hit the gas when she thought she was hitting the brake as she pulled up to the post office Monday afternoon. “I have no idea what happened,” the embarrassed Mrs. Lucas told The Roadrunner. “I kept trying to stop it but the car just went ahead. Thank God no one was hurt!” The car couldn’t have been going very fast since it had barely a scratch on it when it was pulled out of the broken glass and caved in wood. A couple of customers were trapped for a few minutes until the fire department put them into protective gear and got them from between the car and the post office box area. The post office was closed the rest of the day until plywood could be put up in place of the glass. The glass will be replaced later in the week, Post Master Joe Prentice told the paper.
By JOE NAIMAN
The Board of Supervisors directed county staff to work with other fire control agencies to develop a comprehensive brush clearing strategy.
The 5-0 vote Aug. 13 directs the county's Chief Administrative Officer, the county’s Fire Code Specialist, the county’s Fire Services Coordinator, the county's Watershed Coordinator, and the director of the county’s Office of Disaster Preparedness to put together a team of representatives from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, fire districts and wildlife agencies to develop a comprehensive plan to establish and maintain firebreaks, perform controlled burns, clear hazardous brush, and establish a bug crew which would develop a plan to eradicate the bark beetle population and eliminate dead trees.
The motion also directs the Chief Administrative Officer to draft a letter for Board of Supervisors chairman Ron Roberts’s signature to the county’s state and Federal legislators requesting support for additional funding for fire management in the region, directs the county’s Sacramento and Washington representatives to advocate for additional funding for fire management, and directs the CAO, with the assistance of the Fire Code Specialist and the Fire Services Coordinator, to work with the county’s fire agencies to establish a residential chipping program and return to the board in 60 days.
“There has been a huge renewed interest in controlled burns, fire break maintenance, and other means of preventing the brush buildup,” noted Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who brought the proposal before the board. “Old fire breaks have been neglected. New fire breaks need to be established.”
Breaks in dry fuel allow firefighters some space to attack the blaze on multiple fronts rather than in the air, and access to rugged terrain to prevent a fire from spreading is one of the greatest challenges firefighters face. Historically state and Federal agencies have created fire breaks and performed controlled burns, but funding for those services has decreased and no uniform plan is in place to coordinate local efforts.
In addition to fires, the Backcountry is also plagued with bark beetles, which attack trees weakened by stress or other factors. Those beetles deposit microscopic fungi in the tree’s vascular system, and the fungi multiply and clog the water-conducting tissue of the tree.
It is estimated that 30 to 35 percent of the pine trees in the Backcountry have been killed by bark beetles, which creates a fire hazard as well as breeding grounds for additional beetle population.
Because California is also suffering from a drought, which weakens tree defenses, the bark beetle threat is intensified at this time. Forest fires are another cause of damaged roots which make trees susceptible to beetle attacks. Jacob noted that other jurisdictions have previously initiated bug crews.
The residential chipping program is intended to allow property owners and fire departments to create chipping programs so that homeowners can cut back brush as a preventative measure. Private companies perform chipping services, but the cost is often prohibitive for many homeowners. Jacob hopes to have chippers more readily available to homeowners. “They're limited in availability right now and there’s huge demand,” she said.
The program will also encourage residents to protect their homes with defensible space.
Bees swarming during the springtime is a sign that all farmers find heart-warming.
Bees swarming this late in the summer is generally useless to agriculture and possibly hazardous to people.
Africanized bees, known in the popular culture as “killer bees” are now swarming in Valley Center, according to John DeWilde, Valley Center’s resident bee expert.
“I’ve been called on four swarms in the last two or three weeks,” DeWilde told The Roadrunner this week. “One that I caught showed a tendency for being Africanized.”
Swarming occurs when a hive’s population reaches the point where it can’t support all its members. A new queen takes a portion of the hive and goes in search of a new place to colonize.
Anyone who has ever seen a bee swarm has felt both a mixture of awe and fear. Bees, after all, and human, have a love, hate relationship. People need bees, and bees need people, but bees in large numbers are scary.
Several weeks ago DeWilde was alerted to a swarm that he then captured in a five frame box.
“I’m going to see what other tendencies for Africanization that they have.”
Since the invasion of African bees, many native hives in San Diego County have been infiltrated by African bees. They are aggressive and their queens tend to take over European bee hives.
If the African bees interbred with enough European bees, the aggressiveness tends to be bred out.
“Hives that are inbred may show some tendencies for being Africanized without being overly aggressive,” says DeWilde.
He notes that the usual time for European bees to swarm is between March and May. This time of year it’s too late to build up and make a good colony.
How widespread is the African infestation in Valley Center.
“I don’t know about Valley Center alone, but a couple of months ago when I was talking to the County Dept. of Agriculture they said all of Southern California is Africanized. They’ve taken over.”
Pure Africanized bees will be more aggressive. They will attack a further distance from a hive than European bees would, and they will attack in larger numbers. Their stings are not more poisonous than the European bee, but multiple stings can swamp the human immune system.
What’s a safe distance to keep between yourself and a hive.
“That’s hard to say,” says DeWilde. “I have had people on horseback that have ridden near my hives that have set them off accidentally.
Commercial bee keepers, such as DeWilde, are trying to keep the African strains at bay by requeening with European bees every year.
“If I have a hive that turns aggressive I’ll kill the queen and requeen, or even break the hive down,” says DeWilde. “If you break it down into smaller groups you have more success.”
DeWilde can tell by opening up the hive and observing the brood pattern whether a hive has been Africanized. “That’s a more reliable method than aggressiveness. Just because a hive is aggressive doesn’t mean it’s Africanized.”
DeWilde says that the more he works with bees, “the more I see them as being like people. If they lose their source of food or their leaders, they get aggressive.”
Despite the fact that Africanized bees are well-established locally doesn’t mean that people should be more than normally cautious when dealing with any bees. “Just keep your eyes open a little bit more,” DeWilde advises.
“The worst stinging incidents that I know of that resulted from Africans all turned out to be bee keepers. There was a very bad stinging incident in Whittier, but when they tested the bees they weren’t Africans. Something else set them off.
If a swarm lands near by, leave them alone. Call a bee keeper or the county Department of Agriculture at 800-200-2337 (BEES).
By DAVID ROSS
At the end of a hike through an almost undisturbed stretch of land populated by live oaks, chaparral and coastal sage you come to a place that people who visit here informally call the cathedral rocks waterfall.
Huge boulders tower over puny humans and create a chapel effect that causes you to speak softly almost out of reverence.
When water is flowing at this spot, as it has not done during the current drought, it must be a place of rare serenity and beauty.
As it is, it’s a place where God obviously smiles, despite the fact that it’s located in the middle of what is called Hellhole Canyon. Oh well, so much for the sense of humor of cartographers!
A few weeks ago the Friends of Hellhole Canyon invited me to take a tour of a piece of property that they want to acquire that’s set smack dab in the middle of the existing county preserve.
They were perturbed that I was under the impression that Hellhole Canyon is mainly a celebration of the color brown, and they wanted to bring me face to face with some other colors.
I was amazed! Parts of Hellhole Canyon actually are green. Some are almost lush, and during a period of rain (instead of the current drought) it might almost be described in terms of paradise, rather than the other place.
The property we visited is actually not part of the preserve, although the 155 acres of the Brown property are surrounded on three sides by the County’s land.
It’s a square shaped parcel that very likely was part of a Homestead in the early part of the previous century.
Hellhole Canyon is a relatively untouched canyon with over three miles of “critical, but threatened,” habitat and wildlife corridor, according to the Friends. It is characterized by considerable rugged terrain.
According to biologists, Hellhole Canyon provides a corridor for wildlife to move from the south and east of Guejito Ranch (a privately owned large expanse of undeveloped land) through Pauma Valley and Rincon Indian Reservation to Palomar Mountain, Lake Henshaw and beyond.
There are trails that traverse the county land, but many of them are quite challenging to hikers who don’t have calves of steel.
The Brown property, by contrast, is characterized by some very pleasing trails that normal people, or even tofu muscled individuals such as myself would find both friendly and inviting.
Its southern 58 acres includes the southern slop of Hellhole Canyon and the adjoining ridgetop. Its home includes dense Southern Mixed Chaparral, California lilac, manzanita, sugar bushes and the Englemann’s Oak, considered by many to be a rare and possibly endangered species.
About a half mile of the three miles of Hell Creek runs through the Brown property, which would therefore be a natural inclusion in the preserve.
How fortuitous it is then that Mrs. Brown wants to sell the property. The Friends have an option to buy the land for $385,000. So far they have $200,000 from a grant by the State Habitat Conservation Fund that the County has pledged to match.
The Friends of Hellhole Canyon Open Space Preserve was formed when four volunteer County docents learned that Mrs. Brown was interested in selling the property. They got together and formed a non-for-profit 501 (c)3 educational and land conservancy organization and began working with Mrs. Brown, who had always wanted to preserve the land.
The Friends are currently aiming at raising $500,000 ($385,000 to buy the Brown property and $115,000 to form the seed funding for an acquisition fund so they can go after other parcels.
They hope to get enough commitments from members to broaden their campaign to seek significant contributions from the community.
The Brown property will fill out the heart of the preserve. So I guess I was right after all: Hellhole Canyon is a celebration of Brown!
You can send your donations to: Friends of hellhole Canyon/VCPV Land Trust Open Space Campaign, POB 221, Valley Center, CA 92082.
Hot German bratwursts, a wine and beer garden, the three-piece musical group “Confirmed,” a Kidz Game Zone, a display of classic cars and unusual vehicles, and a harvest market are some of the sights, sounds and activities that Dos Valles Garden Club members have in store for the public at its fourth annual Oktoberfest, Saturday, Oct. 12 at the VC Community Hall.
Making Oktoberfest the best ever by being fun and enjoyable for the whole family is the focus during the summer months meetings of the event’s steering committee, according to Roger Ramey, president of the garden club.
In addition to offering a day of entertainment for the community, the event raises funds for philanthropic purposes. Past contributions include money gifts to middle and high school agriculture departments, VC Community Services District, Friends of the VC Library, World Gardening, and horticultural and agricultural scholarships for local high school seniors.
Oktoberfest originated in Bavaria on Oct. 12, 1810, when Prince Ludwig invited the entire population of Munich to a festival in celebration of his marriage.
At the same time, the local brewery was almost ready to being its harvest of barley and hops, the makings of beer. Any beer had to be consumed before the new beer arrived. The people came to wish the king and his bride good fortune. They also drank a lot of the beer.
The guests had so much fun, they decided to do it every year. It evolved into an annual cultural event that included horse races, booths, agricultural fairs and entertainment. The event is held throughout the world.
Here in Valley Center, Dos Valles Garden Club will not have horse races, but it will have booths offering food, beer, wine, soft drinks, home-grown vegetables, plants, flowers and fruit, homemade pies, pastries and canned goods, and whimsical crafts and garden decorations.
For more Oktoberfest information, call 760-751-1906.
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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