Friday was a big day for Valley Center resident and sculptor Phyllis Raynes, whose bronze work The Flag Raising will be what most people notice as they drive by the brand new Escondido Charter High School on Valley Parkway.
The five bronze statues are of teens of diverse ethnicities gathered at the entrance to the school, raising and paying reverence to the American flag.
At the afternoon ceremony Mrs. Raynes told the crowd of several hundred, “I have been asked if I named the sculptures and the answer is yes. I created each with a heart and became very attached to them. Penny is the 5’2” girl with her hand over her heart. Roberto is tall, has his hand over his heart and is holding books. Isabella is holding books in her arms and looking at the flag. Donald is approaching the flagpole, wearing a backpack and Edward is raising the flag. The names were chosen carefully. If you take the initial of each name it will form a word and the word is PRIDE. Pride is what I feel as I think of our youth today. I have pride in our community and in our great nation, its heritage and its preservation.”
Dennis “Coach” Snyder, who is the charter high school’s principal, told how he chose Mrs. Raynes to do the sculpture:
“My wife and I took a trip to the East coast because we loved the foliage. On that trip, we saw a bronze sculpture of elementary sized bronze students gathered around a flag. It became my dream to have the same thing at Escondido Charter High School, so I filed it in the back of my mind.
“When we came home, I opened up the Valley Roadrunner, a weekly newspaper out of Valley Center and there was an article about an artist named Phyllis Raynes. I gave her a call and began discussing the possibility of creating teen sized sculptures,” said Snyder.
It was a day of flags, with the Escondido High School Band performing the National Anthem, the Civil War Buglers playing To The Colors and Escondido Charter High School Band performing You’re a Grande Old Flag.
Mrs.Raynes helped raise the flag with the Chief of Police and Fire Chief for the City of Escondido and was later a guest on the Rodger Hedgecock Show, which broadcast live from the student quad from 3-6 p.m.
About 70 students from Valley Center attend the charter high school.
After the dedication performances were given by the Escondido Charter High School Band and Chorus, Arts Off Broadway, Children's musical theater, Escondido Charter High School Drama department, which presented excerpts from The Miser, Christian Youth Theater kids performing My Home Town - San Diego and the San Diego Civic Dance Company.
Also representing Valley Center at the event was Supervisor Bill Horn, who gave the invocation, the Dos Valles Garden Club and the VC Republican Women’s Club.
By DAVID ROSS
Here’s the church. There’s the steeple. Open the doors, and there’s all the people.
That’s the plan, anyway.
A steeple for Valley Center Community Church, and how high it will be, was one of the main sticking points of Monday night’s review of the plans for a new church complex off Cole Grade Road.
The group accepted a report on a subcommittee, chaired by Lael Montgomery, that was tasked with meeting with representatives of the church and making recommendations on what changes to make in the church’s plans.
On the whole, the committee pronounced itself satisfied with the plans. The project includes four buildings: an inner sanctuary, a gathering room, administration building and final sanctuary.
Because of high ground water, three acres must be dedicated for leach fields.
The total building area, according to Jo Mackenzie, representing the church, is 58,000 sq ft. There will be 340 parking spaces.
A carillon will be 57 ft. high, and a portion of the roofline will be 35-48 ft. high.
The committee recommended:
1. That the church make an irrevocable offer to dedicate land for a future public road along the property’s southerly boundary, instead of along its northerly boundary. The logic for this was that the planning group last year voted its support for an east west connector road between Cole Grade and Miller.
2. Against a waiver of the requirement to underground utilities along Cole Grade Road. The church has opposed this, which it estimates could cost it $200,000 or more.
3. That visual studies be conducted before deciding whether or not to waive the height limitation of 35-feet for the carillon and part of the main sanctuary’s sloping roof.
The group heard from several representatives of the Misty Oaks area of town who were concerned that changing the configuration of the road would bring it right through their neighborhood.
The members also spent considerable time discussing whether it was a good idea to follow its previously adopted position about the road. In the end there seemed to be a consensus that the road the group was recommending to the county should not go through Misty Oaks, or any existing neighborhood.
Chairman Larry Glavinic commented, “I certainly don’t want to gore anyone’s ox. I have trouble thinking we need to demand an IOD from the church on the south. I think it’s stupid.”
Rich Rudolf commented, “We need to create a grid for Valley Center and one way to do that is to take a road across from Fruitvale. I thought we were trying to create a grid that would work for the town.”
Planner Robert Hancock said, “I just don’t see the purpose of a road through all those properties. This little half mile piece of road benefits nothing. I don’t see any need for a road through there.”
However, Mel Schuler commented, “I don’t support going through Misty Oaks because there’s another way, but eventually wherever we choose, we are going to offend somebody.”
They also debated whether or not to give the church a waiver on heights.
Craig Adams commented, “I have a problem with us trying to impose our views on their theological view of the world. If that helps them to worship God in their way, we should allow that.”
Carol Prime said, “There appears to be some community benefit for having a height waiver. But I think we need some solid reasons for this and for turning people down in the future.”
“I have no problem with the carillon being over the height limit,” said Jim Yerdon. “Height limits is an arbitrary limits by the fire codes. On the other hand, everything is an arbitrary limit and I need to hear some stronger reasons.”
Sandy Smith agreed, “Thirty five feet is the height limit. If we allow this we are opening some doors, and if we do it for this project there should be some special reasons.”
“We are treating this like a church when it’s a major complex,” said Schuler. “Maybe we should look to see if there are alternatives to the height.”
Glavinic commented “I’m kind of flexible on the height limit, but Sandy brought up the interesting point that if you do it for one you should do it for everybody.”
The church’s architect explained that the sanctuary's roof will reach this height to accommodate the baptistry, the choir and the pulpit.
Members also discussed whether the church should be required to pay for the undergrounding of utilities next to it.
The group took a series of votes on the church:
It voted 13-0 to accept the report,.
It failed to pass a motion by Rudolf asking the County for feedback on the GP2020 Circulation Element request for Fruitvale extension to Miller or an Irrevocable Offer to Dedicate land for a future road along the [Church project’s] southern boundary or some other route further south.
The board approved a motion, 11-1 (Prime voting no), stating that roads should not be a condition for approving the church project.
It failed to pass a motion by Rudolf, that the County establish a fund into which the church could pay its “fair share” of undergrounding utilities along Cole Grade Road.
The vote was seven for the motion (Glavinic, Montgomery, Prime, Rudolf, Smith, Washburn, Yerdon), four against, (Adams, Hancock, Schuler, Shoemaker). Note: for a motion to pass on the planning group, eight votes are needed.
Also failing was a motion by Craig Adams that the height requirement for the church be waived because it is a house of worship.
Voting for the motion were Adams, Glavinic, Hancock, Schuler, Shoemaker, Washburn. Voting nay were Montgomery, Prime, Rudolf, Smith, Yerdon.
The group unanimously approved a motion by Carol Prime to review the visual studies before deciding whether or not to waive the height limitation.
By DAVID ROSS
The County Board of Supervisors Aug. 6 took action that brings most development projects that will be introduced from now on under the shadow of General Plan 2020, although that plan is still fluid and has not yet been approved by the board.
The board voted unanimously that projects that began in the permitting “pipeline” before Aug. 6 are subject to the old rules and that projects that began on Aug. 6 and after, are subject to the new rules— although the new rules haven’t been actually approved, and may not be approved for years.
However, the board also voted that projects that begin after the Aug. 6 deadline, but which can be completed before GP2020 is approved, would be subject to the old rules.
What this vote actually means is unclear to a lot of people.
VC planning group Chairman Larry Glavinic told The Roadrunner, “If someone were to ask me, I’d say, ‘Look at this map. You may be subject to this map.’ On the other hand, this is not a change. It’s not a real pipeline. It’s not like they said ‘You are under the new rules.’ They said you can still get through under the old rules.”
The supervisors took the action after presentation by Dept. of Planning and Land Use staff’s Ivan Holler, who is the senior planner in charge of the ongoing project.
The supervisors were presented with three alternatives.
1: To do nothing, and let the process continue as it has been going.
2. Impose a moratorium on new permits until GP2020 is adopted.
3. Establish a deadline date.
DPLU staffers argued that a moratorium wouldn’t work and doing nothing was worse because by the time GP2020 came into being there would be nothing left to protect.
In their comments made during the discussion, supervisors over and over used the word “fluid” for what GP2020 is at this time.
They have no way of knowing yet what the new law is, was a comment also made.
During the public testimony regarding this motion, 11 people spoke in favor, 24 spoke against.
One speaking in favor was Louis Wolfsheimer, who recently revived his Rancho Lilac project in VC.
Some planning group members reacted Monday night to the vote.
“It doesn’t make any sense, so why do it? To give the impression that they are making progress?” asked planner Eric Laventure.
Lael Montgomery asked Glavinic, “Did you say that the Board of Supervisors initially adopted Aug. 6 as the cutoff and then changed their mind?”
“No,” replied Glavinic, “Aug. 6 is the cutoff. But if a project goes to the final date and GP2020 has not yet been approved, the old rules will apply. So Eric is right, it’s a funny deadline.”
Planner Rich Rudolf commented, “The problem with not adopting a moratorium, which the board had the right to do, is that everybody who has the money to do it will rush like crazy to get their projects through. So while trying to plan for 2020 the ground will be shifting under our feet and changing while we are trying to plan for it.
Valley Center motorists venturing out at night are now running into two impediments to traffic on VC Road.
The first one, the replacement of water mains along VC Road near Cole Grade Road, has been ongoing for several weeks now, and is expected to be done before school opens in September.
Joining it last week was the installation of about 8,000 feet of 6 inch gas pipeline that will enable San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to serve the new Woods Valley Ranch development.
According to SDG&E spokesman David Johnson, the pipeline will be installed from Lilac to Woods Valley Road along VC Road.
The project, which is scheduled to be completed in October, was supposed to have been conducted in conjunction with the widening and realignment of Valley Center Road planned by the County Dept. of Public Works.
However, delays in that construction forced SDG&E to put in the pipeline now in order to be able to serve the new customers at the Woods Valley Development, said Johnson.
The final cost of the project is estimated to be between $600,000-$800,000.
VC Western Artist, Owen Trogdon, donated art to the Twenty-first Annual Golden Boot Awards held over the weekend in Beverly Hills.
It was quite an honor to be invited by Honorary Celebrity Chairman, Tom Selleck.
The Golden Boot Awards, held on Aug. 9, celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Western Films with special awards to cowboy stars, writers, directors, character actors and stunt people.
This special breed have contributed to the development and preservation of the Western tradition in film and television.
Prior to the awards was a silent auction filled with contributions from numerous Western artists and collectors. Trogdon donated a charcoal drawing, called “Top Hand.” It was bought by actress Elke Sommer, an artist herself, for her private collection. The other piece of art is one of Trogdon’s life-size cutouts, called “The Camp Cook.” A top bidder and owner of the Tombstone Mercantile Co. in Tombstone, Arizona, purchased this one.
Said Trogdon, “It was a great thrill and honor to be there and actually meet and speak with actors Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, Katherine Ross, Graham Green, Tommy Lee Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Martin Kove and many more. We had the honor of visiting with Grace Boyd, wife of the late Western film star Hopalong Cassidy, who at 91 years old was quite a treat to meet.”
“L.Q. Jones was another all time favorite of mine to meet as was Morgan Woodward. The dinner, the awards, the silent and live auction along with entertainment by the ‘Sons of the Pioneers’ was a night to remember. I feel very honored to have been included and welcomed the opportunity. I look forward to going again.”
The Valley Roadrunner
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