A man who wants to build a small supermarket in Valley Center calls the TIF fees the supervisors revised last week “basically a new moratorium on backcountry building.”
Last Wednesday, under pressure from the building industry the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to lower by 40% TIF (traffic impact fees) that they adopted last year.
Two supervisors, Bill Horn and Ron Roberts, voted no because they felt that the reductions didn’t go far enough. Horn has vowed to reintroduce the measure soon.
Steve Flynn, president of Bell Enterprises, which proposes a small shopping center that would include a Major Market in the southern node, says that the “reduction” doesn’t help him at all.
Flynn commended Horn for his support.
“His [Horn’s] comments were encouraging. He wanted something better than what county staff was proposing. I think the three supervisors that voted for the changes honestly thought they were doing some good. But it was like the shifting of the deck chairs on the Titanic.”
Flynn criticizes the change because, while it reduced TIF fees by 40%, it also removed any credit a developer would get for paying for road improvements.
So, for Bell Enterprises, which will install a stop light at Mirar De Valle and build two roads through the shopping center, the effect of the change is—a wash.
The first road Bell Enterprises would build would extend Mirar de Valle heading east and would go into the shopping center. The second would head south and meet up with Charlan Rad.
The cost for those roads Flynn estimates at $1.5–$2 million.
That is 20-50% of the total building cost of the project, says Flynn.
Before the TIF program was changed last week money that a developer spent on road improvements was taken as a credit from the TIF.
“You would pay a TIF that would be outrageous but any improvements you would make to TIF roadways you got credit for,” commented Flynn. “They reduced it by forty percent but they took away the credits.”
Flynn testified at Wednesday’s hearing as part of a group presentation that also included Bill Lewis, Wayne Hilbig and Gary London.
He argued that a supermarket in VC would actually contribute to fewer trips on the road.
“The residents in Valley Center who now travel, on average, twenty miles round trip to do their grocery shopping, would be able to reduce that trip to 2-3 miles,” Flynn told the board.
“Our economic study shows that Valley Center’s roughly eight thousand households would each save about one thousand miles per year driving, mostly to Escondido, to do their shopping. That is roughly eight million roadway miles we reduce annually.”
He added, “This TIF fee is fatally flawed when it comes to commercial development in Valley Center.
Flynn claims that 1) the fees will increase traffic on area roads by sending shoppers to Escondido or Fallbrook, 2) It favors Big Box stores instead of small to medium sized developments. A 140,000 sq. ft. Wal Mart in Escondido would pay a smaller fee than he would pay for a 85,000 square foot neighborhood center in VC, 3) It punishes commercial development in VC and makes it more attractive to build in a City like Escondido.
A VC resident who supported the fees when they were adopted, former planning group chairman Larry Glavinic, told The Roadrunner, “I do support the notion of TIF fees, however they are too high for commercial and in particular rural commercial. One shoe doesn't fit all. High TIF fees will only discourage commercial in VC and continue to cause more travel.”
He is also concerned about the management of the funds.
“No one seems to know who is in charge,” Glavinic says. “CalTrans, County, or SANDAG (San Diego County Assn. of Governments). Further, SAN-DAG needs to do an annual audit and accounting. Where is it? How much money has been collected, spent or allocated? What is the formula for allocations? Personally, I’m not sure SANDAG is capable for the political side of fund allocation.”
Flynn calls the TIF fees a “significant impact,” on the project, although he doesn’t go so far as to call it a deal killer.
“We are going to have to find a way around,” he said. “We are going to work with the supervisor and county staff to try to correct this. We are continuing on with the water district, which is doing its environmental impact portion of the sewer right now. But when we get down to breaking ground on the water treatment plant, if we don’t have a a resolutions of the TIF fee, it could affect us.”
Flynn says that because of the 20-year sewer moratorium, which ended a decade ago, and the high ground water problems that VC, “has had no commercial, no new services added for the last thirty or forty years.”
The shopping center Bell Enterprises proposes would be a roughly 85,000 sq foot neighborhood shopping center with a grocery store of 32,000-35,000 sq feet. That’s a modest size compared to most shopping centers.
Flynn added, “It’s not commercial that generates traffic. It’s residential. It’s all the houses that have been built that have created most of our traffic.”
TIF fees for residential developments are about 1-2% of the total cost, compared to 20-50% for commercial, he says.
“The grocery store business is very competitive. If you try to pass these kinds of rents along it won’t work,” he says.
He is hopeful that the supervisors may look at the issue again.
“I got the feeling Supervisors Jacob and Slater are sympathetic, but they really thought that the fee structure was a reduction,” he said.
Horn, on the other hand, “got the picture real well.”
In a phone interview with Horn on Friday, the supervisor told The Roadrunner that one reason he opposed the current TIF fees is that it requires that developers pay “the prevailing wage.”
“This is private developer money going into a private project. I don’t think they should be subject to the prevailing wage,” he said.
He added that he is for lowering the fees even further.
“I thought Flynn made a real good argument about the amount of traffic saved by a small local market. That’s a very valid point,” he said.
He also felt Flynn made a good point about not getting a credit for funds spent on roads.
“You might see something else come from us. I don’t think this issue has gone to bed yet.”
Valley Center’s new fire chief, John Kremensky, is a San Diego county boy born and bred.
Jan. 28 was his first day as fire chief and battalion chief for Cal Fire, which was Kevin O’Leary’s position before he was promoted to be this area’s division chief.
Kremensky told The Roadrunner that Valley Center, “seems to be a nice area. The personnel are great to work with and there are a lot of different programs going on.”
Kremensky is a 22-year veteran of Cal Fire. He started his career in 1985 in San Diego, as a seasonal firefighter for four years. He was then hired by the Lakeside Fire Dept. for nine months before being promoted to the rank of engineer with CDF (Cal Fire’s old name) in Moreno Valley, Riverside County.
He spent four years there before returning to San Diego County to work for the Ramona Fire Dept. He was then promoted to captain at the California Division of Correction’s Camp McCain, which is located on I-8 near El Centro.
He also served at the La Cima Camp in Julian for about a year.
Then he returned to be a captain at the Ramona Fire Dept. for eight years. His most recent assignment was two years as a training captain at Cal Fire’s San Diego headquarters. He coordinated training for 14 backcountry fire agencies that have contracted with Cal Fire, including Valley Center and the Palomar Mountain Volunteers.
He was just promoted to be battalion chief with the VC fire district.
Under him are five fire stations and six engine companies, including two at Rincon, three in Valley Center and one in San Marcos.
He told The Roadrunner, “We are in a transition with the number of firefighters we have under my command because we have had some injured firefighters on light duty due to burns to do with the Harris fire.”
In addition to being Valley Center’s new fire chief, he also coordinates with Deer Springs Fire Protection District and the Yuima Municipal Water District in Pauma Valley.
Kremensky lives in Lakeside with his wife, Shannon, and their three kids, a boy, 18, who is going to SDSU, a girl, 17, who is a senior in high school and captain of the cheer team, and the youngest, a girl, 14, who is a high school freshman involved with dance.
Family oriented, the new chief enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking. He is also involved with his church and is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
His goal in Valley Center, he said, is to, “maintain the good working relationship that the past chief has established. And to continue working with members of the public on various programs such as burn permits, the fire safe council that is starting and the CERT team. He also hopes to maintain and enhance fire protection, rescue and EMS services locally.
The challenges to achieving those goals, he says, is growth within the district.
“Services will need to increase, as will staffing and continuing with the education programs of working with the public,” he said.
The most recent rains spell good news and bad news when it comes to the upcoming fire season, according to Kevin O’Leary, the Cal Fire division chief in charge of defending much of this area in the event of fire.
Although he is happy to see the wetter than average winter so far, it does carry within it the seeds for possible problems further down the road.
O’Leary’s predictions so far have been very close to the mark. Last October, shortly before the disastrous wildfires began, he said that conditions were optimal for such a catastrophe.
“It all depends on the weather,” O’Leary told The Roadrunner. “The current rains have caused even dead fuels to be almost non-combustible. But the dead fuels, and brush that has died due to drought, freeze damage, etc, including trees dry out—they will burn.
“The rain has produced green grasses that we have not had a great amount of in several years. When it cures, dries out and becomes dormant in June and July, we consider these flashy fuels. Flashy fuels ignite much easier than living brush and dead brush.”
The more grasses there are, according to O’Leary, the more fires this area is likely to have. On the other hand, he says, they are easier to control than large areas of 30-100 year old brush.
“We should be very concerned with areas not affected by the Oct-’07 fires, especially if they did not burn in October of 2003,” said O’Leary.
That includes the areas west of Cole Grade all the way to Vista.
“Those areas still can have a major fire, and there will be easily ignitable cured grasses that can start with power equipment, tools, etc, if the right conditions exist,” he said.
The main factor to watch is wind and humidity.
An on shore wind brings higher humidity. The critical time is in the late afternoon until around August. Off shore winds brings two major factors: high wind and low humidity.
“Get a fire started in the right fuels during those periods, at the bottom of a slope, you can have some real problems,” said the chief.
If rain continues through spring until May, fire issues might be postponed until early to late fall.
“The thing to remember is what is already dead from all the years of drought, freeze, disease/bug kill, brush and trees will dry out and be a major factor under the right conditions,” he said.
“We are expecting more starts with a good grass crop, hoping they are not in areas where they can spread to the brush.
“We must always be aware that a major fire with additional major fires depleting our resources which can cause a little fire to grow into major fires.”
He added, “If you look at the Valley Center area, all of the major fires occurred second or third after major fires were burning in other areas of the state and county.”
Another weekend of heavy rains helped local farmers to stay within their 30% water reduction allocations and to build up credits for lean months ahead.
The rains over the weekend dropped over 1.5 inches in some places in Valley Center.
And the total rains for the just completed month of January definitely helped ag customers, according to Valley Center Municipal Water District Gen. Mgr. Gary Arant.
All growers who buy water from agencies that are customers of the Metropolitan Water District are required to use 70% or less of what they used a year ago. This does not apply to residential customers, although they are being asked to voluntarily save 10%.
Of the district's 1,733 ag and ag/domestic customers, 1,524 were under their respective allocations for January, with 209, mostly combination ag domestic customers, going over.
Out of the 672,103 units allocated to all customers (1,545 acre feet), only 281,619 units (or 647 AF) were used and 390,484 units (or 898 AF) were conserved and can be carried forward for use in future months.
The allocation of water is based on how much farmers used in the previous year, reduced by 30%.
The total allocation represents 70% of what was actually used in January of 2007, which was 960,147 units (or 2207 AF). So compared to what was used in January of 2007, VCMWD's ag and combination ag domestic customers conserved 71% and compared to the 70% were 59% under the 70% allocation. On review, I think this last paragraph would be confusing to the average reader.
Arant told The Roadrunner: “Obviously the wet, cool weather during December played a role here, with our growers taking full advantage and using our water as little as possible. We expect a similar result for February's billings, which are based upon usage in January.
“Given the situation, a cool, wet winter and spring as well as a mild summer are the best thing we can hope for to help our growers get through this very difficult situation.”
A 6-ton bronze sculpture of the late actor John Wayne is being given away by its owner in Beverly Hills and the Valley Center History Museum wants it.
The massive statue, which measure 21 feet in width, would likely be mounted outside the museum on Cole Grade Road and become a significant tourist attraction, said Museum President Bill Hutchings.
The sculpture was commissioned in 1984 by the former Great Western Savings & Loan for which Wayne served as spokesman. It has stood on Wilshire Boulevard at La Cienega in Beverly Hills since that time and is owned by Washington Mutual, Inc. which acquired Great Western in the 1990’s. Washington Mutual plans to relocate the statue.
The oval-shaped bronze shows Wayne in full cowboy regalia on horseback atop a massive pedestal. It was created by artist Harry Shapiro Jackson of Cody, Wyoming, a personal friend of Wayne.
At the Valley Center Museum, Hutchings said bank officials at Seattle headquarters have received an official offer for the artwork. “We are in serious competition with other agencies,” he noted.
Organizations said to be seeking the statue, in addition to the Valley Center Museum, are the City of Newport Beach, John Wayne Airport in Orange County, and the Autry Museum in Los Angeles. Each has a connection to some part of the actor’s life.
In the Valley Center-Pauma area, Wayne owned a home, shopped and rode horseback during the 1940’s. A current exhibit at the museum documents the actor’s life in this region through photos and personal memorabilia.
The museum at 29200 Cole Grade Road is open Tuesday through Saturday from 1–4 p.m. Admission and parking are free. For more information visit www.valleycenterhistory.org or call 749-2993.
The VC-Pauma school board Thursday night will vote on whether to close the one-school Palomar Mountain School at the end of this year.
Enrollment has been declining at the one-room school next to the grounds of the Palomar Observatory. Next year the enrollment will fall to three students.
The school district had made a “deal” with residents that it would keep the school open if they could keep the number of children at 11 or more.
The district also enlisted the help of State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth, who twice shepherded a bill through the legislature to provide “necessary school funding” to keep the school alive.
The school district loses an estimated $50,000 a year on the school.
However Hollingsworth wasn’t able to get support to make the funding permanent, especially when Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneg-ger's office made it clear that he didn’t support the measure.
Mountain residents will make one last effort to try to postpone the closure. Judi Easton, of the Palomar Mountain Parent-Teacher Club, has sent out an email call to residents to speak at Thursday’s meeting.
“We have a wonderful supportive community here on the mountain, and we want all of San Diego to know that! Many people speaking up at the meeting will make the news agencies and the district take notice. Even if the vote is not in our favor, at least they will not be able to say we didn’t have the support of the community,” Mrs. Easton wrote this week.
IN OTHER BUSINESS the district’s financial director, Pam Moe, will present an overview of the governor’s budget, which is calling for a 10% across the board cut in all state programs.
The board will also hear a curriculum report on the Jane Schaffer Writing Program at the high school.
The board will be asked to approve the 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment Consortium Grant with the San Diego County Office of Education and the 21st Century Consortium Grant for an after school program for the Lilac, Primary and Lower Schools.
The meeting begins at 6:30 in the VCHS multi-media center (library). The public is invited. Lori Johnson is chairman of the board.
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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