Valley Center’s biggest and most fun weekend of the year is upon us, with a parade and rodeo the most popular draws.
Events are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday, thousands of visitors and loyal Valleyites are expected to line Valley Center Road to watch the annual parade, which has over 120 entries.
Various announcers will be stationed along VC Road to provide a running commentary of the fun.
As always, a bright sunny day, with no clouds, but not too hot, has been ordered by the Chamber of Commerce.
The VC 2004 Western Days Parade Committee has announced that three Grand Marshals have been selected for this year’s parade, “United We Stand.”
They are Sheriff’s deputy Alvin Vasquez, VC firefighter Pat Taylor and Allyson Roach, a survivor of the Paradise fire.
The parade will include the antics of the Al Bahr Shriners and their Tin Lizzies, local riding and walking units representing groups such as GOP Republican Women and the Dos Valles Garden Club, and numerous loud, patriotic fire engines.
All this week, leading up to the parade, the Valley Center Marshal’s Posse and the outlaws du jour will be shooting up the town.
The Honorary Mayor’s showdown is Friday at 5 p.m. at VC Community Hall, even though Donna Jorgensen has already been determined to be the winner (she was the only candidate). Followed by a dance and country dance music. Admission is free and food and drinks will be sold.
A Craving for Pancakes
First thing Saturday and Sunday, two different groups will satisfy your craving for pancakes.
Saturday Rotary will serve pancakes from 7-10 a.m. at Old Towne Center. The price is $6.50 for adults, children, $5.
Sunday the VC Lions Club will serve pancakes at Bates Nut Farm from 8-11 a.m. Cost is $5 for adults and $3 for kids 12 and under.
Pit Barbecue
The Homesteaders 4-H Club will again serve pit barbecue on Saturday at VC Community Hall, from noon-10 p.m. Cost is $7.50 for adults and $6 for kids.
Rodeo
The third annual Valley Center Stampede Rodeo will take place Friday and Saturday, with gates opening at 5 p.m. with the grand entry at 7 p.m. on Friday; and the gates opening at 2 p.m. with the grand entry at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Again, it’s being approved by the National Police Rodeo Assn. Again, it’s open to contestants within 35 miles of VC. Rules.
Trick roper, Benny Martinez has been added to the intermission entertainment line-up Martinez has appeared at many schools and at the Tournament of Roses Parade.
For the first time the rodeo queen Mackenzie Cayford and her court, Emily Richardson and Rachael Kelley, will preside.
VIP catered meals are offered, along with preferred seating, for $25 per person. The meal will consist of an old-fashioned Western Barbecue with corn on the cob, potato salad, poultry, beef and biscuits.
Handicapped parking will be located next to the rodeo.
The rodeo is sponsored in part by Hawthorne Machinery, Washington Mutual, Valley View Casino, and Jack Powell Dodge ,
About 350-400 contestants are expected for the rodeo, including kids competing in the mutton busting.
Tickets in advance cost $8, and are $10 at the gate. Kids 5 and under get in free free.
Country Kids Corral
Country Kids Corral will run from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday on a roped off area near the ballfields. Unlike last year, this event has no connection with the rodeo.
Activities will begin as soon as the parade is over.
Each of the many fun activities provided in this safe environment for kids and their families will cost one ticket. The cost for 12 tickets is $5.
Live Entertainment
Live entertainment at the Fairgrounds is sponsored again this year by Valley View Casino.
Scheduled shows are:
Ranch Rockers, Friday, 6 p.m.-Midnight
Jack Johnson’s Hank Williams Tribute Show, Saturday, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Texas Toothpicks, Saturday, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
The Working Cowboy Band, Saturday, 7-Midnight.
Karaoke with Nicole, Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
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Be sure to visit your mailbox and pick up the complete guide to Western Days and the rodeo, produced by The Roadrunner. These guides will be also be handed out during the parade.
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The parade begins at 10 a.m. and runs along Valley Center Road, beginning at Cole Grade and ending at Old Road.
The parade lasts about two hours. Once the parade is over, it’s time to make your way to VC Community Center for all the festivities. There you’ll find booths and food vendors of all types and tastes.
Road Closures
From 9 a.m. till the end of the parade the following area is closed to traffic - Valley Center Road from Woods Valley Road (south); Lilac (west to Betsworth); Cole Grade Road (east) & then to Fruitvale (north). All streets, private roads and driveways along the parade route are also closed.
Detours
Suggested detours are:
Northbound - Woods Valley east (right) from Valley Center Road to Lake Wohlford Road. Then north (left) on Lake Wohlford to Valley Center Road. West (left) on Valley Center Road to Mactan Road. Mactan north (right) to Fruitvale Road. Fruitvale Road west (left) to Cole Grade Road, north (right) on Cole Grade which will connect with the 76 in Pauma Valley.
Southbound - Cole Grade Road to Fruitvale Road, east (left) on Fruitvale to Mactan. Mactan south (right) to Valley Center Road. Valley Center Road east (left) to Lake Wohlford Road. Lake Wohlford Road south (right) to Woods Valley Road. Woods Valley Road (right) to Valley Center Road, or continue down Lake Wohlford Road, past the Lake to intersection of Valley Center Road at the bottom of the grade.
By DAVID ROSS
Towards the end of the evening of discussing the Weston shopping center and whether it fits in with a rural Valley Center, a woman from the back of the room shouted, “Just put a hitching post next to it!”
VC planning group Monday night gave conditional approval to the proposed Weston shopping center, but put off until later attaching most of the conditions.
The planners met in the multipurpose room at the lower elementary school.
The wording was apparently deliberately vague, a compromise motion that did not use the word “reject” nor the word “approve.”
The motion approved said that the current proposal be modified with conditions.
This followed on the rejection by a 10-4 vote of the initial motion to reject the shopping center. That motion had been forwarded by the Shopping Center subcommittee.
Robert Hancock, recused himself from the voting because his property, a nursery, is within 500 ft of the proposed center.
Another member, Frank Shoemaker, was challenged by planner Rich Rudolf. He said both Shoemaker and Hancock had recused themselves from voting at a previous meeting.
Hancock explained that since then he consulted the state Fair Political Practices Commission. They told him that he (Hancock) couldn’t vote, but that Shoemaker, who rents his space in Hancock’s building, could.
It was an evening of surprises. Such as when the owner of Major Market in Escondido, Pauma resident Richard London, stood at the podium to say he wants to open an upscale market here.
About two of every three public comments criticized the proposed center. Most for its scale and lack of a “village” feel.
Highlights of the comments:
London said, “Major Market would be honored to have a grocery store in Valley Center.” He said he had been asked several days ago to speak to the group. “We could put a store. It could be 25,000-30,000 sq. ft and have an awful lot of volume. We hire local people. We’re a small little family-owned business. I can’t wait five or six years for a project to come forward so I can build a store.We’re ready to go if you are.”
The proposed anchor supermarket’s size is key to Weston project opponents. They point to the 55,000 sq. ft. market as being too big for this area.
Some argue that the total shopping area of the center is more than a community this size will be able to support.
Patsy Fritz said: “It is not the planning group’s job to squeeze a project so that your favorite market can be accommodated. There should be no restraint of trade by design. We want plenty of parking centrally located.”
Former planning group and design review chairman Phil Geddes told the audience “We’re awash in nostalgia. The majority seems to be anchored in what Valley Center was 15 years ago,” not the realities of a growing community.
Jon Vick said that those on the shopping center subcommittee wanted a shopping center. “The question is to approve a suburban shopping center or a town center. Subjectively we want a grocery store and objectively it has to meet our community plan and our guidelines.” Vick’s opinion is that the only two choices are for the developer to adjust his plans to meet the guidelines or to file for a general plan amendment.
Alan Olson said, “I’m happy to see a shopping center thought of as something that we need. I’m disappointed in this plan because it doesn’t answer the questions that need answering. It does not address the various traffic needs that we have.”
Calvin Koelstra said, “I’ve seen these alternative plans with serpentine streets. I can just see the RV’s and SUVs that VC people drive negotiating those streets!”
Loralee and Richard Stephens, who own the Courtyard, worry that the center will destroy existing retail operations and that no way has been found to solve the sewer problems for businesses that are not in this development.
Veterinarian Debra Hofler said, “This isn’t what our guidelines indicate. It doesn’t allow us to grow well.”
Judith Silverman asked that the County be pressured to do something about an underground gasoline “bloom” near the intersection of VC & Cole Grade roads before the center be allowed to proceed.
Helen Zimmer said, “I’d like to see Valley Center grow slowly and gracefully into old age, the way I’m trying to.”
What do most people want this shopping center to do? Depends on who you ask.
Planning Chairman Sandy Smith said that 100 messages were left on the planning group hotline and that about 60% wanted a shopping center but with modifications while 40% supported the current proposal.
Deli owner Abe Boulos said he took an informal survey and that 80% of those he talked to supported the proponents’ design.
“Our population has more than doubled in last ten years. Weston’s plan has been in the pipeline for five years. If any shopping center is built on that property, I personally will be affected negatively, but for the benefit of the community I support it.”
After an hour of public comment, the board debated the merits of the shopping center.
Chairman Sandy Smith told the audience, “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to find something that inspires people to our meetings.
“This is not the same thing as an election. We’re not tallying votes to see who’s for, who’s against, and who’s in the middle.We are your elected officials. We look at every land use item and see if they meet the community plan. We are advisory to the county. Whatever we do decide tonight, this is not the end of the process. This will go forward.”
The Weston project comes under the existing planning rules of the General Plan, not under what is being considered under General Plan 2020, she said.
Rudolf grilled the project’s engineer, Gary Wynn to show that the developer, Weston, is based in Orange County and that the developer is not the four VC farmers who sent residents post cards asking their support.
Wynn answered that the four farmers all live in VC, but that the developer does not. Weston does own the 40 acres that will be used for a leach field.
Rudolf also quizzed Wynn on the timing of the project. Wynn said that would depend on the environmental impact report but that he is looking at three years to begin construction, with a construction time of 6-9 months.
The project will be built in phases, with the market and superdrug store built first. The first phase will also include the building of the “main street”, one office building, and half of the 70 proposed condominiums.
Rudolf attempted to get Wynn to talk about whether another shopping center would impact his center. Wynn said that this evening was the first he had heard that one was being considered.
Planner Eric Laventure read an opinion by County Counsel in answer to a question of whether the Design Guidelines are just guides or absolute laws.
County Counsel’s opinion was that because the design guidelines are incorporated into the community plan, “any approvals should be consistent with the design guidelines. If it is inconsistent it cannot be approved.”
Planner Larry Glavinic countered that no one doubted that the design guidelines should be applied. “The key element is if it is consistent. The problem is that the guidelines are interpretative and silent on many issues because of the location of the project.”
His opinion was that the project was consistent with the guidelines. “That’s why we have this board, to vote on whether it is consistent.”
Rudolf disagreed. “Why would any of us want to violate our duty? Our job is to enforce the community plan, not decide whether we like it. . . . This is essentially the same project that we saw in 2002 and filed 12 pages of concerns with. This is the most important quality of life decision that we will make.”
Planner Jim Yerdon, referring to County Counsel’s opinion, said, “If we take a very strict interpretation, following everything to the letter there is no reason for any of us to be here. A planning tech down at Ruffin Road can go down a checklist, does it meet this, does it meet this.”
Lael Montgomery, who has led the charge against Weston’s plans, said she was doing what she was elected to do two years ago when she ran under the slogan “no suburban nightmare.”
“This site plan does not conform to the community plan or design guidelines. . . It threatens the unique small town character that our community protects so we are compelled to use the legal planning tools that we have so that the longterm interests of this community is part ahead of this developers longterm gains.”
Other businesses have had to comply. “Plain fairness and consistency require conformance. We must tell him to bring into conformance or file a general plan amendment,” she said.
Carol Prime criticized Weston’s design as “like every shopping center ever built.” She said the center would have a monopoly and that blight could occur through overbuilding.
The motion to reject the Weston center was defeated with Ron Adair, Craig Adams, Larry Glavinic, Don Martin, Mike Morasco, Mel Schuler, Frank Shoemaker, Sandy Smith, Jim Yerdon and Andy Washburn voting against. Voting for was Eric Laventure, Lael Montgomery, Carol Prime and Rich Rudolf. Hancock abstained from voting.
Smith, who originally supported the subcommittee’s vote that the shopping center violated the design guidelines, wanted to add specific recommendations to whatever motion was adopted.
Rudolf, the maker of the original motion, didn’t accept any amendments.
“I’d like to vote it up or down and then discuss all of the conditions. To me it’s obvious that Herb Schaffer (the developer) is taking the view that the community plan and guidelines are outdated and stupid and they don’t have to follow them.”
The community plan, he asserted, wouldn’t be satisfied with just a few corrections.
Planner Andy Washburn asserted, “I can’t support the project as it stands. I also can’t support the motion because the guidelines are supposed to be interpreted by each of us. I support Sandy’s approach, to reject the project as presented and list the specific things that will bring it into compliance.”
After the motion against the center was defeated, Smith argued that a motion with conditions attached to it should be worded so that county planners don’t just focus on the word “approved” and ignore the conditions.
The final motion took those concerns into account.
After the vote Rudolf complained, “We’re right back where we were in January of 2003 when we approved subject to future conditions. I think we’ve gone full circle.”
Montgomery added, “Should we see this proposal as abandoning our community plans and guidelines?”
Adding Conditions
Although it was late, planners voted on several conditions. They were stopped at 10:30 p.m. when school custodians informed them that they had to leave.
Planners rejected:
• demanding that the developer put commercial buildings closer to the street;
• reducing visual impact by redistributing park;
• requiring a central location large enough to accommodate public meetings.
• designing the street grid and internal circulation so it’s more like an integrated town center.
Morasco commented that there’s a theater at the high school and a performing arts center planned. “It’s not necessary to do it on private property.”
Planners approved requiring that the parking lot be reduced in size.
By RIK ESPINOSA
There may be some relief in sight for the Valley Center area that is suffering from a prolonged dry spell that some outright call a drought.
There are now indications that an “El Niño” weather phenomenon, which usually means heavier than normal rainfall for San Diego County, may be forming later this summer in the southern Pacific Ocean.
Using computer models of current southern hemisphere Pacific Ocean conditions in the area where an “El Niño” would form, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said in a report that there is a 50-50 chance of an “El Niño” developing after July.
“The remaining forecasts indicate that El Niño will develop within the next three-six months and intensify through the end of the year,” the report said.
Not every scientist shares that outlook.
“It would have to be a very, very remarkable development to produce a recognizable El Niño. I think the chances are very slim, unfortunately,” said Scripps Institution of Oceanography climate research division director Dan Cayan. “Don’t get your hopes up, that would be my advice.”
Cayan, who lives near Ramona, said not having an El Niño does not mean he is forecasting the drought to continue.
“We could still have a wet winter, I just wouldn’t pin any hopes on any tropical situation developing,” he said. “This is really a prolonged dry case and (the lack of rain) this winter was not helpful. … Eventually this (drought) will turn around, but it will take time.”
When capitalized, “El Niño” means the Christ child in Spanish. South American fishermen recognized that in certain years a weather phenomenon developed when tropical water in the eastern Pacific Ocean became much warmer than normal around Christmas.
The warming seawater portends major weather and climate changes around the world.
Among these consequences are increased rainfall across the southern part of the U.S. that has caused destructive flooding, milder than normal winters over parts of the northern United States and western Canada, the report said.
The last “El Niño” in 1997-98 was a very strong El Niño, officials said. Other recent “El Niño” years were in 1986-87 and 1991-92.
Palomar Mountain has been in a severe drought for the last six years, since the last “El Niño.” It has affected the health of the mountain’s trees and has increased the trees’ susceptibility to the bark beetle infestation.
More rain would also be a boon to area farmers, said Eric Larson, Executive Director of the Escondido-based San Diego County Farm Bureau.
“If it means more rain, that is always good news,” Larson said.
While weather extremes like too much rain can be damaging to farmers, an “El Niño” year would mean rain and that is so important to the farmer, he said.
An “El Niño” would prompt the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services to begin making plans, which could include involving the Unified San Diego County Emergency Services Organization, which consists of the County and the 18 cities in the county and the San Diego Unified Disaster Council.
“If we needed a preparedness workshop before the fall then we would do that,” Susan Asturias, county Senior Emergency Services Coordinator said. “If we had some information of importance to pass on, we would get that information out to the cities.”
The rain could benefit areas that were burned during the Paradise Fire, helping revegetate fire ravaged areas.
However, more rain also means more grass and brush in areas that did not burn and that increases the fire danger, a Northern Arizona university report Forest Fire in the American Southwest said.
During El Niño years, vegetation, particularly fire-prone grasses, tend to thrive and expand. Big fire years in the West tend to occur when wet El Niño years are followed by dry conditions, the report said.
“The most extensive fire years tended to be dry years following two or three wet years,” said the report.
Tamara Damante, who launched her professional television reporting career three years ago as an intern at San Diego ABC–TV affiliate KGTV-Channel 10, and then took the morning and noon news anchor spot at an NBC-TV affiliate, KTWO-TV, in Casper, Wyoming, has just signed a three year contract with KESQ-TV, in Palm Springs, CA., to be morning as well as the noon news anchorwoman there.
KESQ-TV is the Number One rated TV station in the Palm Springs/Palm Desert market.
Miss Damante, former Miss Valley Center in 1998, is a graduate of Orange Glen High School and the University of San Diego with a major in Journalism.
By DAVID ROSS
Two Valley Center districts will be affected by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget plan, unveiled last week in Sacramento.
Water district Gen. Mgr. Gary Arant confirmed this week that Valley Center’s water district will lose about $560,000 each year from the budget deal.
The Valley Center Parks & Rec district will lose $17,500, over 7% of its $234,000 budget for last year, according to Joyce Johnson, general manager.
The VC fire district will apparently be untouched. According to the deal, fire, police and safety districts that take in under $1 million in property taxes, won’t have to give up any revenues.
The governor’s budget takes a hefty chunk of all special districts’ property taxes. In return he has pledged to support a constitutional amendment that would make such takings illegal.
Special districts had a large chunk of property taxes taken away permanently in 1992. It has taken a decade for the parks district to recover.
Water rates to climb
Ag and residential customers of the water district will probably see their rates go up, if the board adopts staff recommendations.
Arant Monday told The Roadrunner: “We will be recommending an off-setting rate increase to compensate for the ERAF (Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund) shift. Based upon 44,500 acre feet of sales, we would be looking at $12.66/acre foot increase in January, or about a 2.9 cents per 100 HCF (Hundred Cubit Feet, or 748 gallons) to help offset the loss and offset the loss and be able to sustain our capital improvements program.”
If all the anticipated wholesale costs increases and tax shifts are adopted, the new rate for M&I (municipal and industrial, which includes residential) customers would go from $1.4954 ($651/AF) to $1.6512 ($719/AF).
Rates for ag would go from $1.1257 (490/AF) to $1.2172 (530.21/AF).
This ERAF increase would recoup the funds lost over the 12 months of calendar 2005, not in the last six months of fiscal year 2004-05.
If the recommendation is adopted by the board ag rates would increase 2.58% and residential rates would go up 1.94%.
Parks & Rec hard hit
“We figure that was $200,000 over the years,” says Mrs. Johnson. “I don’t think we ever really recovered that money. With additional housing we got more taxes, but this big chunk taken out was a lot.”
Property taxes and user fees go to pay operating expenses. The district gets several thousand dollars in park lands development ordinance fees, but it is strictly earmarked for capital improvements, not maintenance. In essence, PLDO money buys “the car,” but doesn’t provide for gas, tires, or oil changes.
“That’s why this tax cut will directly affect us,” said Mrs. Johnson. “We can’t use PLDO for repairs and maintenance and salary. That’s what we use user fees and tax money for. It’s really going to cut into our ability to do things. I don’t know what cutbacks we’ll have to do.”
The cutback makes it even more critical for the district to go the voters in November and ask them to approve a permanent benefit fee structure.
Such voter approved taxes are not subject to confiscation by state budgeteers.
“Each month we squeak through,” says Mrs. Johnson.
Last year’s budget actually ran a deficit, with $250,000 in expenses and $234,000 in revenues. That’s because the district had to pay for a ballot measure to appear on the ballot last year. That initiative, narrowly defeated, would have set up a permanent benefit fee to pay for parks.
San Diego County will also lose an estimated $55 million in property tax shifts. The County is considering eliminating nearly 1,000 vacant positions and laying off hundreds of employees.
At the end of two years the money will be restored, “but those two years will be pretty important for us to survive,” she said.
Special districts statewide will be reduced $350 million for two years under the governor’s proposal. Counties and cities will also lose $350 million for two years.
Rates would still go up
Even without the budget deal, rates would still go up .1217 cents an HCF, $53.00 per AF, or 8.5% M&I and 11.2% for ag, Arant said.
“However, even with all of the rate increase components in place, VCMWD’s share of the new rates remains low at 12.4% of the total M&I rate and 16.9% of the Ag rate.
As the Woods Valley Ranch sewer treatment plant moves forward, so do the Bell family’s plans for a 80,000 sq. ft. retail center on land where the old Valley Center Inn and Napa Auto once sat.
Those plans are at the very beginning stages, and don’t yet include drawings. Under a best case scenario, nothing will happen for three to four years.
Steve Flynn, Chief Operating Officer of Bell Enterprises told The Roadrunner this week that the Bell family has owned this seven acres since the early 1980s.
“We always wanted to do something with it, but because of the ground water issues and the Moratorium [in place 1980-99] it’s been undevelopable.”
When the Woods Valley Ranch project was approved several years ago by the Board of Supervisors, they stipulated that the waste treatment plant be expandable so that other property owners would have a chance to hook onto it if they had the financial resources.
“Our thinking is that in future years down the road we would like to develop a nice center,” Flynn said. “Now that the Woods Valley plant is going in and they are talking about a permanent plant coming on-line in about a year, we can talk about it.”
The Bell property is adjacent to the Woods Valley development. Bell Enterprises has been working for years with the VC Municipal Water District to develop a plan to expand the treatment plant. The company funded a study a few years ago in which neighbors were asked if they would be interested in hooking on to an expansion.
They have also talked with Alti Corporation, which has property next adjacent to them. Alti has plans to develop a 55 home residential plan.
The Woods Valley Ranch plant can only process a limited number of EDUs (equivalent dwelling units).
Although there’s a lot of talk about a shopping center on the other end of town, Flynn feels “confident that whatever we build will stand on its own.”
Plans are about as preliminary as it’s possible to be.
“We don’t have any designs yet,” said Flynn. “We do like the Spanish motif, the Southwestern look. We’ll come up something that people will think is attractive.”
The maximum number of square footage for retail, offices and restaurants is 80,000.
An anchor store would be about 25,000. That’s about the size of a Jimbo’s or a Major Market, said Flynn.
“We have not had discussions with any tenants but there are a lot of options. We are going to come up with the design and then look for tenants. Three or four years down the line we’ll have to see what is needed.”
He added, “If everything went our way I don’t see us being able to start a project for another four years. After the plant at Woods Valley is up and running, the water district can look at going forward with the permit to expand it.”
The permitting process would take a couple of years under the most optimistic estimates.
“We would love to do something quicker than that but I don’t see it being feasible,” Flynn said.
The project, when it is built, will be self-funded.
“We’ll be a lot more flexible than most developers. We’ll be able to be more selective in the tenants and design,” he said. “We really think we’re going to design something charming.”
He added wryly, “But we’ve had ideas for that land for 20 years and the only thing we’ve done so far is pay property taxes.”
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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