Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

May I have your attention, please? Out of respect for the proceedings and in consideration of others in the audience, please turn off or silence any sound-emitting devices. If you wish to speak on an item or register your opinion for an item on today's agenda, speaker slips are available in the rear of the chambers and must be turned in prior to the item being called on the agenda to the commission secretary at the front of the room. Complete the green slip if you are in support of an item. Complete the pink slip if you are in opposition to the project. Complete the white slip if you are neutral on an item. If you have any questions about today's hearing process or need assistance with speaker slips, staff are available to assist you. These hearings are recorded. So when your name is called, please approach the lectern and give your full name. Each speaker will have three minutes otherwise approved by the chair. Information on how to appeal any decision can be found on the last page of today's agenda and we will begin shortly.

Good morning and welcome to the County of San Diego Planning Commission hearing of August 22, 2025. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Commissioners, please answer for the record when your name is called. Chair Ashman?

Here.

Commissioner Calvo? Here. Commissioner Edwards?

Here.

Commissioner Pallinger?

Here.

Commissioner Weber? And Commissioner Sudbury?

Here.

Please note for the record that five commissioners are present and one is absent.

There are no requests to participate remotely, so we'll move to public communication. Public communication provides an opportunity for members of the public to speak to the Commission on any subject matter within the Commission's jurisdiction, but not on any item on today's agenda. No specific action will be taken on any comments or queries that come from public communication. However, this could result in a referral to staff. Madam Secretary, are there any members of the public wishing to discuss a topic not listed on today's agenda?

Sean, do we have anyone on hold for item D?

We have at least three callers. There is one caller trying to join the call, so when I join the call, you may hear them. I'll be joining shortly.

Hi Barbara, and are you here for public communication?

Patty, we're on the call. We can start now. Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you all. With the caller ending in the last four digits of 7613, please press star six to unmute your mic, and please state your name for the record before you begin speaking. Caller ending in last four digits of 7613. Please press star six. You're on mute now. Please go for it.

Okay, great. Good morning, planning commissioners. My name is Becky Graff, and I want to alert you that the draft EIR for the expansion of marijuana businesses into our backcountry will soon come before you. Now is the time to educate yourselves on what a state This is not a routine land use item. It's a permanent decision that will forever alter our rural communities. It's important to remember that San Diego County already has five marijuana stops operating. Our communities are not underserved. Expanding into rural areas is unnecessary and will only bring new risks without meeting any unmet needs. The draft EIR does not adequately address critical issues like water use, odor control, fire danger, habitat destruction, or increased traffic on narrow rural roads. We've seen in Santa Barbara County how overlooking these factors led to groundwater depletion, habitat loss, and permanent harm to rural character. We cannot allow the same mistakes to be repeated here. I urge you to dig into the gaps of this draft report, ask the club questions, and listen to the many planning groups who have gone on record opposing marijuana expansion. Once marijuana businesses are allowed into the backcountry, there is no going back. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. With the caller ending in the last four digits of 4592, please press star 6 to unmute your mic, and please state your name for the record before you begin speaking.

My name is Kathleen Lippitt. As an attendee of several unincorporated communities, I'd like to share with you a common concern among them. Their voices seem to fall on deaf ears at the county level. The reasons and priorities for many who live in that country include, but are not limited to, open space, lower cost of living, privacy, dark spaces, and a sense of community. These unincorporated communities land also amongst by the diverse in the continental United States. They're home to a wide variety of wildlife systems, coastal sage, chaperone, vernal tools, grasslands, oaklands. It's home to many federally threatened species, endangered sunbirds, owls, wrens, mammals, invertebrates, and cranes. But the quality of life for the residents and sometimes for themselves, wildlife, have been threatened in recent years by a country that seems more interested in monetizing its unincorporated lands than in protecting it. Sadly, CEQA exempted the comet, even when exempted in consideration of their environmental impact. The purpose of CEQA was to safeguard air, water, wildlife, and other natural resources by providing environmental review for proposed projects. but the reviews that were done at the county level were very inadequate. They were technologically outdated. The county was not qualified to do the evaluation for these types of projects, and they shouldn't be doing them. From battery energy storage, solar facilities, then testing at marijuana farms, coal-fired, manufactured, and sales, they ignored unincorporated community. So I... Please, I hope that the stewards will recognize and empathize with the community residents. They're older. Their voices do not get their audience at the county level. Thank you for letting me.

Thank you. And for the callers that are waiting in the lobby to join, I will admit you after going through each caller that is currently in the lobby. With the caller ending in the last four digits of 6598, please press star six to unmute your mic, and please state your name for the record before you begin speaking.

This is Anne Riddle. Thank you for letting me share thoughts this morning regarding what's going on in the backcountry. We are pleased that finally Highway 67 is getting some attention. Very overdue. And in general, we would hope the planning commissioners would let our supervisors know that we feel neglected out there in the backcountry. We have no process really to address them except through our planning group and talking at Board of Supervisors. But there's no committee or commission structure that other cities have. who are extremely dependent on you and what little opportunity we have to speak at Board of Supervisors. So I'm utilizing this opportunity now to tell you that our back countries are concerned about unsafe driving. That's our concern for Highway 67. But in general, our roads need more attention than we've been neglecting. and particularly an issue out here in the back country, is driving impaired, be it alcohol, marijuana, or drugs. We were all thrilled to hear that the nation's own traffic safety agency, who has a new chief apparently, has decided that that's a high priority for them. They recognize across the U.S., as we do out here in the back country, that driving impaired, particularly out in the backcountry, has devastating effects. Our particular new piece of the National Tobacco Safety Agency points out that we are not paying enough attention to the risk of marijuana-impaired driving, particularly in our urban and rural areas like where we live, and would hope that this planning commission would understand that bringing more marijuana businesses out to the backcountry, as being suggested by the Supervisors, only increases this problem for us. Thank you for letting me share this concern this morning.

Thank you for your comment. With the caller ending in the last four digits of 3-8-0-0, please press star 6 to unmute your mic, and please state your name for the record before you begin speaking.

I said, I am concerned that the county cannabis program is not as significant as adding more marijuana businesses to the already buys that are in the county operating and are incorporated as spectacular open spaces that I would not want to be compromised by more marijuana investments. The impact of more marijuana in the backcountry will be significant. Marijuana growers pesticides, fertilizers, and the soil and water sources. Chemicals harm local ecosystems, affecting wildlife, plant diversity. Marijuana cultivation requires efforts of water resources offered exceeding that of traditional crops, leading to a strain on local water supply. Cultivation often leads to habitat destruction and contributes to land use changes that disrupts local ecosystems. Indoor cultivation is energy and requires essential electricity, lighting, climate control, ventilation. The cultivation and processing of the air want to generate significant odor, waste, including plant material, packaging, chemicals. Improper disposal can lead to pollution that harm our plants and the community are not happy. for, nor do they want more marijuana businesses. County staff are only listening to others' voices when they're coming from the marijuana industry, profiteers, not the residents who live there. Community is looking for your help. It can't always just be about the money.

It

Thank you for your comments. I'll now be admitting the members that are joining in the lobby, and they'll be unmuted when they join. Caller ending in the last four digits of 1822, please press star six to mute your mic, and please state your name for the record before you begin speaking.

Hi, Peggy Walker.

We can hear you. Go for it.

Sorry. I'm sorry. I couldn't hear that.

I apologize. Please begin your comment. You're unmuted. Can you hear us?

Are you talking to me?

Yes. Caller ending in last four digits of 1822. Please begin your comment.

Oh, okay, great. Good morning. I came today to address the issue of the increasing number of marijuana businesses either added to or proposed in our county. I bring the concern here because these businesses not only present costly public health problems, but costly land use problems. They pose an extreme adverse impact on the environment for known odor, pesticide, water use, and environmental environmental contamination issues, but also for lesser-recognized but a growing hazardous waste disposal problem. This is increased by the stunningly high use of disposable e-cigs and vapes with hazardous plastic toxic... Hello?

Please continue.

Am I speaking or? Yep, you're speaking. I'm not sure what's going on here.

No problem. You're speaking. Please continue.

Okay. All right. This was increased by the toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and lithium-ion battery waste. Very difficult because there's voices in the background anyway. What I want to say is that marijuana businesses pose a land use problem because of psychotropic high-potency THC is also increasing DUI occurrences. endangering neighborhoods and contributing substance abuse related mental health problems in our community. Proximity of businesses contributes to these mental health problems and that is also a land use issue. I wanted to share that a study of medical records of nearly 100,000 adolescents by Kaiser Health, for example, shows that jurisdictions that have a door-front ban on marijuana businesses had a 48% lower rate of adolescent psychotic disorder. These are multiple and growing reasons why marijuana businesses are not a good land use decision. I hope that you'll keep this in mind. Thank you for hearing my concern.

Thank you for your comments. All right, now we've gone to the last caller. With the caller ending in the last four digits of 7734, please press star six to unmute your mic, and please state your name for the record before you begin speaking. Caller ending in 7734, you have muted your mic, and you unmuted it. Please begin speaking.

Hello?

We can hear you. Please begin your comment.

Thank you so much.

My name is Madison Rapp. I'm a public health educator and a mother of three young children. And as someone who lives in multi-unit housing, this is something I wanted to bring to your attention because your decisions directly impact the health and quality of life for a large segment of our population. From a land use perspective, Smoke-free policies enhance the desirability and value of multi-unit housing. They reduce maintenance costs associated with smoke damage and make properties more attractive to non-smoking residents who are an increasing majority. The FDA has given strong warnings about kid-friendly e-cigarette flavors and their impact on youth. This underscores the importance of protecting vulnerable populations from harmful substances. In multi-unit housing, Residents, especially children and those with health conditions, are involuntarily exposed to secondhand smoke, including cannabis and tobacco. This is a significant health hazard that we can and should mitigate. Furthermore, a study by Dr. Wenbo Jiang at Harbin Medical University shows that exposure to secondhand and thirdhand smoke accelerates biological aging. This means that allowing smoking in these settings isn't just an immediate irritant. It has long term health consequences for residents. Let's say housing isn't just about individual health. It's about creating healthy, sustainable and desirable communities within our county. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. We have now finished all callers for public communication.

That concludes the public testimony. Announcement of handout materials related to today's agenda documents to be considered as evidence shall be filed with the secretary of the Planning Commission. No later than four p.m. on Wednesday, August 20th. The Planning Commission may, however, receive into evidence for good cause shown or impose reasonable conditions on late filed documents. Please note that this does not apply to materials presented at the meeting as part of a visual presentation. A staff presentation for today's items was posted online for the public to view on Wednesday, August 20th, more than 24 hours in advance of the hearing. And the public was able to provide comments by submitting e-comments prior to the hearing. Madam Secretary, are there any handouts or e-comments related to today's agenda items?

Chair Ashman, 68 correspondences have been received. All items were submitted to the Commission through email or hard copy. They have been made available to the public on the Planning Commission website and at the rear of the chambers.

Moving on. Director, are there any requests for continuances from staff?

There are no requests for continuances.

We will now form a consent calendar. These are items to which no opposition has been expressed or received. Madam Secretary, are there any items for consent?

Chair Ashman, there is one item available for consent, which is item number one, the Good Shepherd Cemetery. We do have members of the public here, but they are all in support.

We have one item for consent. Do we have a motion?

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to approve item number one on consent. I'm disappointed that Monsignor's not here to represent, but.

I'll second. I was looking forward to the Monsignor also.

Is there any questions or discussion by commission members? Madam Secretary, please call the vote.

Please wait until your name is called to vote. Chair Ashman?

Yes.

Commissioner Calvo? Yes. Commissioner Edwards? Yes. Commissioner Pallinger?

Yes.

Commissioner Sudbury?

Yes.

Let the record show that this item passes with a vote of five in favor, none opposed, and one absent.

We will now begin item number two, Harmony Grove Village South project. General Plan Amendment. If you wish to speak on item two, please call in on 619-343-2539. The conference ID is 423-188-868-POUND. We will begin with the staff presentation.

Good morning, Chair and Commissioners. I'm Angelica Truong with Planning and Development Services. Today, Ashley Smith and I will be presenting on item number two, which is the Harmony Grove Village South project. The original project was approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2018, and as a result of litigation, needed to make revisions to the greenhouse gas emission mitigation measure and the addition of an affordable housing component. The project has not changed since 2018, including design or number of units. The department is before you today recommending approval of this project. The project is located south and east of the city of San Marcos and approximately one-third mile west of the city of Escondido. It is two miles west of Interstate 15 and two and one-quarter miles south of State Route 78. Immediately to the north of the project site is the Harmony Grove Village project. The community of Elfin Forest is located west of the project site and the community of Eden Valley. The existing Del Dios Highlands Preserve is located south of and adjacent to the project site. The project site is located within the San Diego community plan area. The site generally increases in elevation from the northern portion of the property to the southern portion of the property. The site is adjacent to residential uses of various entities and open space. Commercial and light industrial areas are located further north within the city of Escondido. This project includes 453 single family and multifamily dwelling units and 5000 square feet of commercial and civic uses. Two miles of public multi-use trails and pathways traversing the community will provide recreational opportunities for a variety of users and will provide connectivity to the trails and pathways in Harmony Grove Village. The project also includes 34.8 acres of dedicated biological open space, 36 acres of common area, and four acres of public and private parks. Earthwork for the project will consist of 850,000 cubic yards of balanced cut and fill. The project site is located in an area of North County, close to the cities of Escondido and San Marcos, which provides public transportation, including Sprinter and bus routes. The Sprinter line, which is a 22-mile rail system connecting Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido, has a total of 15 stations along the Highway 78 corridor. One such station, the Nordau Road Superstition, is located approximately two miles from the project site. Park and ride and bus service to the City of Vista, Cal State San Marcos, and Palomar College are available at the station. Several employers, including Palomar Medical Center and Cal State San Marcos, are located within two and a half miles of the project site. On May 24, 2018, the Planning Commission made a recommendation to the County Board of Supervisors to approve the Harmony Grove Village South project. On July 25, 2018, the Board approved the project and certified its final environmental impact report. Following approval, litigation was filed challenging the project and EIR. On February 20, 2020, the trial court ruled that the project's EIR violated CEQA based on inadequate greenhouse gas mitigation measures, failure to address fire safety and evacuation issues, insufficient analysis of air quality impacts, and found the project was inconsistent with the San Diego Association of Governments regional plan and the county's general plan related to a policy to provide affordable housing and a community plan policy requiring septic instead of sewer. On October 14, 2021, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's ruling related to the GHG mitigation measure and affordable housing, but reversed on the other CEQA concerns. As a result, the board rescinded the project approvals on December 14, 2022. The trial court's ruling confirmed that the EIR was otherwise adequate, including the analysis regarding fire safety and evacuation, general flag performance, and air quality. The project itself has not changed since it was originally reviewed in 2018. Once a court has made a final decision on an issue, that decision is considered final and can't be argued again. This rule is called res judicata and helps keep the legal system fair and efficient. It prevents bringing the same case over and over, which would cause delays and create confusion. The system is set up so everyone gets a chance to make their case. After that, it's settled. All other issues have been fully resolved and cannot be re-litigated because res judicata bars these matters from further litigation. Concerns were also raised during the process regarding vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, specifically that the project should be required to comply with the new VMT regulations. However, subsequent changes to CEQA guidelines, such as VMT, are not considered significant new information that would require additional review because the underlying information was otherwise known or should have been known when the 2018 FEIR was certified. In fact, the issue of VMT was raised by commenters, litigated, and resolved by the courts, and res judicata applies. In addition, risk judicata is applied even if an agency rescinds approval of a project and decertifies the entire EIR. As a result of the litigation, the project has revised GHG mitigation measure. The revised mitigation measure requires the project offset 100% of the project submission locally within the county of San Diego. The project will achieve this by installing a solar system on an existing commercial or industrial building located in the county. The solar panel system will be capable of generating a total of 1,720 kilowatts, which will offset 100% of the project's emissions. In addition, the project will also provide, as a condition of approval, an affordable housing component that will include 10% of the project's total dwelling units as on-site affordable housing, consisting of 5% reserved as affordable for low-income households and 5% reserved as affordable for moderate-income households. Implementation of this condition will not result in changes to the project design.

Commenters raised fire safety concerns, including evacuation during the 2014 Cocos Fire, prior adopted evacuation plans, updates to modification guidelines relative to secondary access, and 2022 California Attorney General guidance relative to wildfire, potential changed conditions to an off-site dirt road known as Johnson Road, new potential projects proposed for the north end of Country Club Drive and one on Harmony Grove Village Parkway. During recirculation of the GHG mitigation measure, extensive public comments regarding fire protection and emergency evacuation were received. The fire safety and evacuation concerns were analyzed during the process in 2018 and subsequently litigated, and the Court of Appeal determined the EIR complied with CEQA except for its GHG mitigation measure. Specifically, the Court of Appeal found that the EIR adequately addressed fire safety and evacuation. However, the county is not dismissing concerns based solely on rest judicata and has responded to all of the comments regarding fire safety and evacuation. Based on staff's analysis and coordination with the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District and Sheriff's Office, The concerns raised have been addressed and do not change any of the analysis or conclusions in the 2018 EIR. The project was reviewed and analyzed for conformance with the County Consolidated Fire Code, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Fire Safe Regulations, the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District Fire Code, CEQA, and the County's Guidelines for Determining Significance for Wildland Fire and Fire Protection. The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District is the fire authority with jurisdiction in this area, and the nearest station is located within Harmony Grove Village, approximately 1.3 miles or 2.8 minutes away, below the five-minute travel time requirement of the general plan. The 2014 Cocos Fire burned 1,995 acres and destroyed over 40 structures in the community. The residents evacuating experienced long evacuation times. Within that context, the community has expressed concerns that the additional proposed population will increase the overall evacuation time and the lack of secondary access poses a safety risk to existing and future residents. Emergency evacuations are often fluid and the need for evacuations are determined by on-scene first responders or emergency response teams. The evacuation routes will be improved and several other road improvements have been completed in the area since the Cocos Fire, including the extension of Harmony Grove Village Parkway, a bridge leading to Citricado Parkway, the connection of Citricado Parkway from existing Citricado to Harmony Grove Village Parkway, and the completed Harmony Grove Village Road network. Since 2014, law enforcement and fire officials have implemented improvements to how they manage and conduct evacuations in an emergency, such as phasing emergency evacuations by neighborhood, thereby reducing large-scale traffic jams caused by vehicles entering the road network at once. A digital mapping system is also used by all emergency responders to allow consistency in response between agencies. An evacuation plan was prepared for the project and was reviewed by the Fire District and Sheriff's Office. The emergency evacuation plan provides evacuation information to future residents of the project to familiarize them with the evacuation route options available during an emergency and to provide a summary of implementation of evacuation protocols and public outreach. Some comments state that Johnson Road specifically was relied on as a project access, which is not accurate. While connection to Johnson Road was one of eight options addressed in the analysis of secondary access options, none of the options was feasible. As such, the project never relied on a Johnson Road connection and Johnson Road was not considered a part of the fire protection plan acceptance and dead end road length code modification. During the 2024 recirculation of the FEIR, concerns about vehicle miles traveled or VMT were raised. but the county had already updated its VMT guidelines in 2022 in line with SB 743, which only applies after July 1, 2020. Since VMT was already a known issue when the 2018 Environmental Impact Report was certified, it does not count as new information requiring further review. The public had an opportunity to comment on VMT impacts during the process in 2018, and the issue was addressed in court. meaning it's settled under Res Juricata and cannot be relitigated. Comments were received regarding new projects that are proposed in the area, stating they would add wildfire and or evacuation issues. Two of these projects, the Seguro Battery Energy Storage System project and the Solaris Business Park project, are located at the north end of Country Club Drive. The other project is part of the build-out of the Harmony Grove Village community. However, there are new road improvements and changes in the fire environment that have occurred. Another fire emergency access road from Hill Valley Drive to La Moray Road within the city of San Marcos will be added by the Baliano Project, providing an alternative route to the northern section of Country Club Drive. The La Moray Road connection is also located in the immediate vicinity of both the Seguro and Solaris potential projects. For all three projects, if approved, the restrictive design and operational requirements would result in there being no significant and unmitigated impacts. If a project fails to meet safety requirements, the county could deny the project and no effect would occur. No change to this project's analysis is required. As a result of the litigation, the project has revised its greenhouse gas mitigation measure. The revised GHG mitigation measure was recirculated for a 45-day public review period from August 22, 2024 to October 7, 2024. A total of 80 comment letters were received during the public review period. Responses to these comments are included in the final EIR. On April 5, 2018, the San Diego Community Planning Group recommended denial of the project by a vote of 11 to 0 with two members absent based on conformance with the general plan, fire safety and evacuation, road improvements, infrastructure, and compatibility with the community character. Staff met with the group and answered their questions and concerns. On October 7, 2024, the San Diego Community Planning Group provided a letter during the public review period recommending denial and resubmitted their original comments from 2018. The group stated their position remained the same since the original environmental impact report was decertified and the County Board of Supervisors rescinded the project approval. The approval of the project would provide 453 new housing units in the Harmony Grove Elfin Forest subarea of the San Diego community. The project includes a range of lots that will allow for market rate homes and will also be conditioned to include 10% of the project's total dwelling units as on-site affordable housing, 5% reserved as affordable for low-income households, and 5% reserved as affordable for moderate-income households. Additionally, the project is conditioned to install a solar system on an existing commercial or industrial building located in the county of San Diego, which will offset 100% of the project's emissions. Because the project complies with all relevant codes and regulations, is in conformance with a general plan, zoning ordinance, and the required findings can be made, staff recommends that the Commission recommend approval of the project to the Board of Supervisors. The Planning Commission has several options. The Commission can recommend approval of the project, recommend approval of the project with modifications, or recommend denial of the project to the Board of Supervisors. This concludes the presentation and staff is available to answer any questions.

Are there any questions from the Commission for staff?

I have one for counsel, if you don't mind. Go ahead. I don't know what you're doing down in the cheap seats today. Counsel, since this has gone up to the appellant court, reversed in its res judicata, we're only going to be discussing greenhouse gas and affordable housing?

That's correct.

So there's some expose on fire, traffic, etc. That's all been resolved by the Court of Appeal.

That's correct. Okay.

Thank you.

Any other questions from the commission? Madam Secretary, are there any planning or sponsor group wishing to speak?

Chair Ashman, we actually do have a presentation that we're going to proceed with from the applicant.

I think we'll start with the planning group representative. I think Doug Dill is here from the San Diego planning group. Come on down, Doug.

Good morning and thank you for an opportunity to speak. I'm Doug Dill with the San Diego planning group. I've been living in rural residential elephant forest for over 30 years. I've experienced about six wildfire events, in which three required evacuation of my family. I've been a member of the San Diego Planning Group for 25 years. I remember when the county provided workshops to Harmony Grove residents asking for their support of the original 742 dwelling unit Harmony Grove Village project. County planning representatives such as Davia Lynch emphasized that if the community accepted Harmony Grove Village, this area would not be burdened by any future high density housing. Oh well, that wasn't true. So as already mentioned, back in April of 2018, THE PLANNING GROUP UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO RECOMMEND DENIAL. THERE WAS NO ONE ABSENT FROM THAT MEETING. THERE WERE TWO VACANT SEATS. THE 453 DWELLING UNIT HARMONY GROVE VILLAGE SOUTH PROJECT PROPOSES TO BE ON A NARROW TWO LANE OVER 800 FOOT LONG DEAD END COUNTRY Club Drive south of Escondido Creek. There is no secondary access in case of an emergency. This is contrary to local, county, and state fire protection district requirements requiring secondary access, especially in very high fire hazard severity zones such as Harmony Grove. North of Harmony Grove Village, the 243-dwelling unit Valiano subdivision is underway in unincorporated in the Eden Valley. The city of San Marcos Fire Department, which the Valleano project is located, has required a secondary access road constructed to county standards. This begs the question, how does a 243 dwelling unit project require secondary access, but a 453 dwelling unit subdivision does not? The proposed Harmony Grove Village South project is secluded, surrounded by 15,000 acres of dedicated permanent open space native habitat. These include the interconnected Elfin Forest Rec Reserve, Del Dios Highlands, Harmony Grove Heights Preserve, the San Diego River Park, as well as the Escondido Creek riparian habitat open space. If Harmony Grove Village South is approved, it will be a deadly disaster waiting to happen. When the next major regional Santa Ana wind event occurs with sustained 50 mile an hour or greater wind speeds combined with a wildfire starting somewhere east of Harmony Grove, there is no way to safely enter and exit a subdivision on a secondary two-lane road. And remember, There are over 40 existing residential dwelling units further beyond this proposed project. A major regional North County fire conflagration will stretch area first responder resources to a minimum. Besides being surrounded by thousands of acres of fire-prone habitat, There are no major arterial roads, highways or freeways in proximity to Harmony Grove Village South. The single lane Country Club Drive and Harmony Grove Road will burden by existing Harmony Grove, Harmony Grove Village and Valiano and Eden Valley residents exiting in case of a major regional emergency. Other than the frontage of Harmony Grove Village South, the project description does not include any improvements to the secondary roads leading to exit routes out of the area.

I apologize, the timer did not sound in the chambers, but can you please summarize your comments?

Harmony Grove Village fire protection plan is flawed. The plan only covers a fire event isolated to the subdivision, not a regional wildfire event affecting the entire North County San Diego region. Please deny this proposed high density project that should be located on an urban major arterial road or highway, not an isolated narrow secondary road surrounded by thousands of acres of flammable open space. Thank you for your time.

Please refrain from applause or jeering or anything else during the hearing.

Now we will have from the Harmony Grove Town Council, J.P. Thurberg, John Dummer, and Debbie O'Neill.

Georgina, we need to do that applicant's presentation first. Sorry about that. Yeah, we'll switch those. So first we'll be, sorry, J.P., it'll be applicant and then J.P.,

Sorry about that. Thank you, Mark.

How's that? Thank you. Harmony Grove Village South. And in just a minute, through the magic of technology, I'll be speaking to you through the video screen. Prior to that, I just wanted to say how pleased we are to be back to the Planning Commission. It's been just a few years and good to see some familiar faces and some new faces as well. Just wanted to thank you all for the time you make in your busy lives to serve the community. As you will see shortly, our view is that it would be difficult to replicate the depth, volume of expert support for our project, especially within our representative government sector, Planning and Development Services, this Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, and even the State of California Appellate Court. As you're aware, Commissioners, and we heard today, today's agenda is only to review the two formal topics ordered by the court, refinement of the project's GHG mitigation measure, and adding an affordable housing component. Before we get that underway, I'd like to take just one moment to recognize some of the people in the room who have stood with us on this journey. To the members of Leuna Local 89, folks in orange, especially those of you who took time away from your work to show support for Harmony Grove Village South, we thank you very much. To county staff who have worked tirelessly in their very detailed and extensive reporting, we appreciate your thorough review and recommendation to approve the project. To the many members of the public, everyone from elected officials to business owners, to residents of North County and across all of San Diego. We thank you very much for your support of Harmony Grove Village South and the homes it will create for hundreds of working families. It is your accomplishment as much as ours. Chair Ashman and commissioners, we appreciate your thoughtful review of these issues and we look forward to earning your support again. So with that, may we show. Thank you. Good morning. I'm David Kovach. managing partner for Harmony Grove Village South. For more than 40 years, I have been a master planner and new community builder, mostly in Southern California. Alongside my two partners, we bring 125 years of experience to helping regions thrive. Master planning and building thousands of homes and hundreds of commercial structures. Today's audience understands the gravity of our region's 50 years in the making housing crisis. The only question worth asking now is, is it possible that one can follow all of California's strict regulatory rules, fire safety, CEQA, sustainability, deep public engagement, and still make room for homes that everyday families can afford? Well, We believe it is not only possible, it is essential. This is the story of Harmony Grove Village South. Let me introduce you to Harmony Grove Village. This is personal to me because I helped create it. Back in the early 2000s, after I was completing the build-out of the award-winning 4,000-acre Santa Luz, New Urban West hired me, my architect, and my land planner to create the master plan for Harmony Grove Village. We designed it to exceed the strict specifications of the county's general plan criteria for a new village. Clustered highest densities, populations, and sustainability practices, especially fire safety. This place had a natural center from which to create the Harmony Grove Village Master Plan. A crossroads intersection. Harmony Grove Road, east-west, and Country Club Drive, north-south. In 2007, the county approved the 742-home Harmony Grove Village. Well, three corners of it anyway. In 2013, we acquired the final piece of this Master Plan puzzle. the fourth corner, and I brought back the same architect and land planner from a decade earlier to finish what we started. The county's general plan even had a specific policy for such a condition, expansion of an existing village. We named it, of course, what it naturally is, Harmony Grove Village South. In completing Harmony Grove Village, our closest neighbors, with which we share property borders, combine to form one of North County's largest population nodes with about 250,000 people. On the north, a border is shared with the city of San Marcos in green, population 95,000. On the south, a border is shared with the city of Escondido in Orange, population 150,000. Across the street, an estimated 2,200 people live in the built-out Harmony Grove Village. Just one mile from the crossroads, a direct connection to the recently completed Citricado Parkway. This is a north-south travel way redundant to Country Club Drive. Citricato also opens the community to Escondido's dense urban road network, so eloquently referenced by Sheriff's Captain Dave Brown's evacuation testimony to this commission in 2018. He called this road network the Concrete Jungle, and his sentiment was, it's a mile or two to get you to a concrete jungle. You could almost walk out of there in 15 minutes. Lastly, In the regional context, Harmony Grove Village and Harmony Grove Village South are found in the literal middle of North County San Diego, surrounded by 10 incorporated cities, 1 million people, and 600,000 jobs. Indeed, this is as village-focused, urban-adjacent, and non-sprawl as it gets. The centerpiece document, the Environmental Impact Report, 5,000 pages, 14 topical chapters, the epitome of scientific analysis. Ever wonder what 5,000 pages would look like bound in one document? I did. Apparently, so did Wikipedia. This is their entire online posting, a nice visual for us to keep in our minds. Within the EIR, the county well understood the heightened public sensitivity to wildfire. So it employed not one or two review bodies for the fire protection plan, but six. Six independent professional agencies with a collective 500 years operating experience in the subjects of wildfire prevention, wildfire management, and wildfire evacuation. These are the same people who helped write, interpret, and live by the fire code. Still, a small group of project opponents, none of them fire experts, claimed this highly trained team somehow violated the very code they helped write and follow every day while protecting the public. The 2018 public review chain for Harmony Grove Village South, Planning and Development Services, PDS, recommended project approval. Planning Commission, recommended project approval. Board of Supervisors, unanimous approval, July 25th, 2018. Immediately following this approval, the small group of project opponents filed a staggering number of CEQA claims, 40 to be exact. Four years later, the California 4th District Appellate Court struck down 39 of the 40 claims, meaning 99% of the county's environmental review was court-affirmed. These rulings are final. They cannot be legally reopened or relitigated. Then, the court ordered just two project refinements. One, greenhouse gas mitigation measure. we will install new solar energy on existing commercial buildings in San Diego County. This is a CARB-endorsed policy. This is new energy, not credits. And two, add an affordable housing component. 45 income-restricted affordable homes will be built on site, helping the county provide new housing for those that need it the most. Important related court confirmations. One, Harmony Grove Village South is a legally confirmed expansion of a village. This helps Harmony Grove Village South provide affordable and missing middle home types. Two, fire protection plan confirmation. Every public concern, claim, and legal allegation has been 100% resolved. The court allocated 30 pages of its 78-page ruling to detailing its confirmation of the fire protection plan. Bottom line, the court agreed with the fire professionals who are responsible for the area. After supporting the project's two court-ordered refinements, the county recirculated them for public comment. How did our closest neighbors respond to this opportunity? Remember this map? One, city of Escondido, shared border, 150,000 population, zero letters. Two, city of San Marcos, shared border, 95,000 population, zero letters. Harmony Grove Village, across the street, 2,200 population, two letters. Within this immediately adjacent population of 250,000 people, a total of 50 comment letters were produced. With so little response from our closest neighbors, where are the vast majority of the letters from? Answer. A little hamlet of about 200 multi-million dollar homes found some seven miles west of Harmony Grove Village and Harmony Grove Village South, along a winding two lane brush lined road. Our fire experts tell us Harmony Grove Village South will not be using this road for evacuation toward Elfin Forest. One could conclude that the vast majority of actual neighbors do not oppose the project. In releasing the two court ordered refinements to the public, the county requested that the public only provide comment to those two subjects. The submitted letters ignored this request and instead offered this response. 75% repeated the same old fire concerns already settled by the court. 20% reported the same old EIR concerns already settled by the court. Only 5% of the comments addressed the two court-ordered refinements. PDS conclusions as we heard earlier today. 1. PDS accepted the project court-ordered refinements to the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Measure and Affordable Housing. Two, PDS found nothing new or relevant from the public comments. And three, PDS is recommending approval of Harmony Grove Village South. We followed every rule. We passed every test. We earned every approval, again. Harmony Grove Village South is more than homes. It is a promise to keep San Diegan families here and give them a foundation to thrive. Here's what we will deliver. The first residential labor agreement in county history. In partnership with Local 89, Laborers International Union of North America, LIUNA, skilled union workers earning fair wages will be employed and may have the opportunity to live in the community they helped build. 45 affordable and 413 missing middle homes. The most underserved sector of our undersupplied housing market exists between McMansions and four-story apartments. Harmony Grove Village South will provide these types of missing middle homes. Cottages. single-family row homes on small lots, farmhouses, five townhomes composed to appear as one single farmhouse, bungalows, courtyard single-family homes that can include duplexes, granary, loft-style live-work homes similarly found in Harmony Grove Village. Harmony Court, single family cluster homes on small lots. These are not McMansions or soulless cramped boxes. They are human scale homes with character, livability and connection within the village and the entire region. Sustainability leadership aligned with California's climate goals. We are a 100% net zero energy community. We include 100% solar energy and EV charging to every home and in the community. We will build a $10 million new steel and concrete bridge over Escondido Creek, the heart of the village. Today, this beautiful natural creek is artificially dammed so cars can travel on its bed, making the creek horribly polluted. In even minor rain events, the creek floods, blocking the only access to the residents south of the creek. The Harmony Grove Village South solution is above ground with wide, generous travel lanes. It will also include ecological restoration of Escondido Creek and provide for the safe circulation for vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and equestrians, especially during emergency events. Harmony Grove Village South has been studied, challenged, tested, and affirmed at each step along this long journey. I would be disingenuous if I said it was not arduous and at times grueling. But at the end of the day, we believe it's worth it. you can follow California's toughest rules and still do what's right. In summary, Harmony Grove Village South is legally confirmed, environmentally smart, community embracing, economically grounded, fire prepared, and morally urgent. Harmony Grove Village South is a foothold on the American dream. Homes where families can plant roots, build stability, and pass opportunity to the next generation. Harmony Grove Village South fulfills that promise. It completes the vision we began over 20 years ago. And it answers a crisis that cannot wait another day, another year, let alone another decade. Thank you for your time today. We trust this work literally meets with your approval. I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Any members of the commission have questions for the speaker?

I do, Mr. Chairman. That was a very fine presentation there, Mr. Kovach. I have a question for you. You better come to the lectern, I think. Sir. In round numbers, how much money do you think you spent over the last seven years? Oh my God. A million dollars, two million dollars? Above. Five million dollars.

Probably above that.

Six million dollars.

Okay, let's stop it there.

That's a lot of money, a million dollars a year. So I'm just getting my phone out here. I should be able to do this in my head, but I can't. Divided by 453, right? $15,000 a unit, added cost to the end user. I've not done that calc, but I'll trust you. Crazy. Thank you, Mr. Kovac. Okay, thank you.

Any other questions?

$15,000.

We'll now take public testimony. I would reiterate, as we proceed through this, please be respectful of all the speakers. Cheering and clapping and cheering and all of this does not add anything to the proceeding. Please proceed with charity. not giving alms to the poor, but tolerance and forbearance. Let everybody have their opinion and their say. And then please don't repeat over and over the same things. If you have ideas, if you have something new to add to the discussion, we'd appreciate hearing it. To have a train of repeated comments really has very little effect in the long run. And then the staff, the The appeals court pointed at. Greenhouse gas mitigation and affordable housing. And. So. The they also sent it back to a trial court who asked the county to repeal its previous approvals. And so. In reading the report, I'm left with the question as to whether or not the comments should focus on greenhouse gas and affordable housing because it sounds to me that the other issues have been resolved. Do you have any input on that?

Sure, Ashman. You're right in terms of what the trial court and the appellate court ruled. The only thing that we would mention is if they believe that there's new information, something substantial that's changed since that time, they can raise those in their public comments, and that's something the commission could consider.

Okay, that being said, Madam Secretary, do we have members of the public wishing to speak on this item?

Chair Ashman, we do. We actually are going to go ahead and proceed with the Harmony Grove Town Council. So can I please have J.P. Theberg, John Dummer, and Debbie O'Neill please approach the lectern.

Thank you. Let's see if we can get that presentation up. Okay, is it up? Don't start the time yet.

Excuse me, how long is your presentation?

Well, it'll probably be about 12 minutes, but I see that the proponent took 17 minutes. We're not gonna need that much time, so we're only gonna take about 12 to 15 minutes.

Okay.

Ready? Okay. So my name is JP Theberge with Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Town Council. I want to thank you guys for giving us another opportunity to come in front of you. It's been some time. I think you guys know our community a little bit now. You've heard a lot about it. I just want to, you know, I also want to thank the consultant, nice polished narrative funded by the Colorado billionaire who's paying for this. This is a Colorado billionaire's investment project, okay? So these are consultants who are working to put forth the most polished, the best possible argument that this is a fair and safe project. We don't oppose the project across the board. We just want them to include some key common sense safety measures that are important to us. And it's not true. Everyone here in this room, there's only one non-Harmony Grove person, okay? Myself, two actually, and Steve. So the Harmony Grove residents, this is a community that's existed for 110 years. It's a very fire-prone community. If we can go to the next slide, please. Go to the next slide after that if you don't mind. This community's had dozens and dozens of fires throughout the years. We've had hundreds of homes that have burned down. The Cocos Fire, next slide please. The Cocos Fire itself, next slide. Yeah, this is a build, keep going. Okay, so we're talking about a community that's in 15,000 acres of open space. It's caught fire many, many times. Everyone in this community has been very concerned about fire throughout the existence of the community. The entire community exists because of our fire safety focus. We had our own fire station. We had our own volunteers. Neighbors rolled up their sleeves and put out fires for many years, up until quite recently, actually. So we have a fire safety council, fire safe council. We have a block captain system. We have CERT. We have a get ready go system. We have all sorts of things that this community is prepared to support and to protect each other during wildfires. We've had people die in our community during evacuation, during a wildfire. including Harmony Growth. So we live in a risky area. We know this. And so we know that we're taking a risk. However, we ask that the decision makers don't give developers just a pass without actually taking into account the things that really matter to us. And in this case, we're talking about... Next slide, please. So if you go to the next slide, one more, there we go. So the Cocos Fire, for example, came through in 2014. It touches the periphery of the project itself. It stopped at the graded dirt where Harmony Grove Village is. Now, it didn't exist during Coco's fire. People had trouble getting out during that fire. It took them an hour and a half to get out, and there was no vehicles that we have now. Right now, if we build this project, there will be about 3,500 vehicles that will be hitting that little intersection right there along this country club road. They'll all be hitting at the same time. That's unprecedented. And during the last fire, it was like 100, maybe 200, 300 vehicles. So we have massive flow of vehicles going into that area. Okay, I get it. So let's build fire safe housing, that's great. Harmony Grove Village is a fire hardened development. IN THAT DEVELOPMENT, WHAT WE HAVE IS, YOU KNOW, THE EVES AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF. HARMONY GO VILLAGE HOUSE WILL PROBABLY HAVE THAT. IT'S NOT A GUARANTEE THAT THOSE HOUSES WON'T BURN DOWN. DURING THE CAMP FIRE, DURING THE BUTTE FIRE, THE PARADISE, AT LEAST 50% OF THE BRAND-NEW FIRE-HARDENED HOMES THAT FULFILL THE CHAPTER 13 IN THE BUILDING CODE ALL BURNED DOWN. SO IT WENT FROM 90% BURNING DOWN, WHICH IS AN IMPROVEMENT, TO 50%. BUT IT STILL MEANS THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE 50% OF THOSE HOMES which have been in the same fire footprints over the decades, we've had at least a dozen fires, next slide please, will likely burn. And this is just some photos so you can see, this is what Harmony Grove fire looked like. This is actually Cocos Fire 2014, that's the Harmony Grove Spiritualist. 30 homes burned down. Next slide please. This is land adjacent to the current project. Next slide please. This is a view from a home that's very close to the project. Next. This is actually the project itself, because there's neighbors who were stuck on the road trying to get out. They had to wait 90 minutes to get out of that area, and there weren't 3,500 vehicles. Next slide, please. And this is San Elijo Hills. Just as an illustration, this is what happens on the other end of our valley. So those of us who are on In between Harmony Grove, Escondido, and San Elijo, we're pretty much in dire, next fire comes through, we're gonna be in a lot of trouble. This is Harmony Grove Village after it had been graded, so there was no dirt. There was no pads, nothing, just dirt. When the fire came through, it stopped because there was nothing to burn. If there had been houses there, The estimates would be about 300 homes would have burned down. Even with all the fire hardening and all that. So you have to take that as a context of why this community is so concerned about fire. Next slide. And why do we want the developer to actually do something to make it safer for us? And the one thing that would make it safer, especially for those folks who are caught behind this project, the 75 odd homes that are in the rural dead end road behind the vehicles that will be coming out during this project if there's a fire, those people need a way out besides that one egress. Next slide, please. Why is secondary egress important? Because the dead end road standard is there to protect people in case that there is a fire blocking the main route. Now the thing is, this route has been blocked numerous times over the years, so it's not hypothetical. The fires have crossed that property. If you look at the historical maps, you will see the fire footprint blocks that area. So what that means is fires have come up that way. That means that the neighbors have had to wait or have had to evacuate earlier or maybe they're out before the fire crossed through. But the point is it's not hypothetical. It's a crowded movie theater. You need two exits to get everyone out. We only have one exit. I also just want to add one thing. All this talk about it's legally settled, all that stuff, this is a discretionary project. It's a general plan amendment. you can actually deny it for any reason. We're not asking you to necessarily deny it, but we're asking for something to protect us, okay? Obviously the rest of the community wants me to say, deny this project, you know, deny it. But I also think that we can find a common ground like we did with Valiano. Integral communities worked with us. They put in a secondary egress because we asked them to and because we obviously had to put some legal pressure. Legal pressure is the only thing that we have available to us. So right now, what we want is that secondary egress. Next slide, please. Just to put a fine point on secondary egress, the Cal Fire commissioned a report by Cal Poly that basically says dead end road standards, if you are going to try to find an alternative to the secondary egress, it has to meet a practical overall effect. And even the county code now, guidelines, require two times the overall effect, not just one time. So you have to prove that. They never really proved that. Again, this is a discretionary thing. CEQA is separate. It means that maybe we can't sue on this, but it's on the conscience of the decision makers to make a decision that's going to protect the community. And that's what's important. Simply adding an additional lane to the primary lane does not improve evacuation times. This is Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, commissioned by Cal Fire. Next slide, please. And then our own fire district, it's non-negotiable. They turn down projects routinely because they don't have secondary risk. I spoke to one of the former chiefs. He said, it's pretty much a non-negotiable. Okay, so why is it not non-negotiable for us now that we're in Harmony Grove, not in Rancho Santa Fe with the big fancy houses and the CLOs and all that? They have six or seven exit routes on much smaller developments. Why does the development not have to follow the same rules that everyone else does? They even blocked a lot split. We're talking two units because it didn't have secondary egress. Next slide, please. And the district even tells us, hey, get prepared when you're getting out alive. You want to get out alive? Identify a minimum of two main exit roads in the event the main routes are blocked, okay? Well, how are we going to do that in this community? Especially the rural folks who don't have the fancy fire-hardened houses that are as good as the brand new houses. Next slide, please. Next slide. This is the maps. These are the maps of, this is six exits for Fairbanks. Next slide. Next slide. Six exits for Cielo, next slide. Six exits for the Crosby Lakes, next slide. Three exits for the Bridges, next slide. Two exits for Rancho Santa Fe Lakes, next slide. One exit for Harmony Grove Village South. Okay, so what's the problem here? Next slide, please. So we hired a researcher from the University of Utah who actually consults on NFPA. He's got 30 years of experience working with Cal Fire, with the federal government on evacuation fires, with an expertise in fire. The guy has a resume that's like 15 pages long. He analyzed this and he basically said there's not sufficient number of safe exit roads with sufficient capacity that lead in multiple directions to add 453 additional units without compromising the safety of prospective residents and current residents. 3,400 vehicles is what he estimated. It will take 6.9 hours to exit down that little one mile road that takes us to the concrete jungle. 6.9 hours, okay? The fire arrives in one to two hours. If you're lucky, three hours, maybe four hours, depending on where it starts. Next slide, please. I'm gonna skip the horse evacuation, because that wasn't even taken into consideration. We have several hundred horses in the community. Next, just go next, okay. Losses not only probable, but expected. Another study that was done on this area by Dr. Ron, who is also a former fire professional. Losses are not only probable, but expected. Next slide, please. CAL FIRE ACTUALLY DID A BIG STUDY. AFTER PARADISE, THEY WENT AND THEY LOOKED AT ALL THESE DIFFERENT AREAS AROUND THE STATE. THE RANCHO CENTER FIRE DISTRICT WAS REQUIRED TO GO AND LOOK AT OUR HOUSING IN HARMONY GROVE, AND RIGHT ON THAT AREA, THE CORRIDORY DRIVE AREA, CONTREE CLUB, THEY RECOMMENDED A SECONDARY ACCESS. SO CAL FIRE IS ASKING FOR IT, TOO. NEXT, PLEASE. NOW, CHIEF MCQUEE, WHEN WE SPOKE TO HIM, THE COMMUNITY, TWO OF US, HE SAID, that they're being basically, that they're gonna adhere to whatever was approved in 2018. If the project had come through today, under today's standards, I would not approve it. He told us that. In so many words. Next slide, please. Kevin Barnard, who's on the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District. He's a board member himself. He says, allowing a billionaire from Colorado to put Harmony Grove community at risk by denying residents a life-saving secondary exit is unconscionable. When the next fire comes through and people are entrapped and potentially die, those who allow this to happen will have this on their conscience. Next slide. Former Chief of Rancho Santa Fe Fire, Chief Fred Cox, he said, with only one way out, even though it is three lanes, when a fire bumps this roadway, the road will be unusable. Next slide. Frank Toohey, who's esteemed fire chief, he's been here for 30 years for the Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Fire Department, he said this project is absolutely insane. Next slide, please. Nancy Gertrude, former Chief of Police of San Diego, who presided over many evacuations over her career, Basically said, we're endangering the lives of the rural residents who already live here by not providing a second exit. Next slide, please. Evacuate early, follow the directions of officials. We always have multiple routes. This is Tony Meacham, who I respect greatly and appreciate all his contributions to our community. But he did say, and he does advise people to find multiple ways out. Next slide, please. Next slide.

Evacuate early. Next slide.

We don't have to watch that. Next slide. Next slide. Okay, Johnson Road, so the county staff is telling us that they never relied on Johnson Road, but actually both the county and the courts relied on Johnson Road as like an emergency backup. Why do we need an emergency backup if secondary egress is not needed, if they're asking for a waiver? Next slide. So it's not true, because I'll show you why. Next slide, please. This is the road, and I don't know if you can scroll through this quickly. I'm sorry. Just try to just maybe scrub through it. This is Johnson Road. Just scrub it kind of like pretty quickly if you can. I don't know if you can scrub. The county's basically told the commenters that the photos that they provided are not of the road, but this is the road. And actually county staff came out on a site visit and they walked the road with us. If you can scrub it a little bit faster, that'd be awesome. There's a boulder in the way, obviously, but this is the road, and the road all the way to Johnson Road is not serviceable. McQuaid told a group of people that he would never send anyone down this road. So let's go to the next slide, because we don't have time for this. Integral component of the fire protection system, Johnson Road. But the roadway would be available for use to connect to Johnson Road, a public roadway to the east in an emergency situation should Country Club Drive not be available. Not be available. There we have it again. Next slide, please. EIR Chapter 7, Mitigations. Additionally, it would be available in any emergency situation. So it is in two different parts of the EIR. It mentions it. Next slide. The original Planning Commission report also listed under emergency evacuation. It may be usable in the scenario where other routes are considered unusable. So they're already discussing other routes not being usable. It's clearly important. Next slide, please. Then the developer did their reply brief. They said, it's not a general access road, but it can and will be used to escape in an emergency. So they're relying on this as a sort of like, hey, you'll be all right. Worst case scenario, you can always go out this way. Well, that road is completely impassable. Next slide, please. Then during oral arguments, the billionaire's attorney says Johnson Road was an additional evacuation route for an emergency, and it is in the record, meaning it's acceptable to the court. Next slide. The appellate court's written opinion says it provides justification for having secondary egress access, not having secondary, because it would be available during an emergency. And then last one, I think this is the last one. And then Chief Cox also said this unimproved road is not feasible unless improved and should be removed from the FPP. I was going to have you just say, you know, in summary.

I'm a neighbor directly on this development, and I evacuated.

Can we have you please speak into the mic, please?

I evacuated during the Cocos Fire as the flames were coming towards me, and I was able to get out because there were only about 75 of us there. So that's my concern, and I hope you appreciate our concerns and listen to them.

Thank you. Could you provide your name for the record?

Debbie O'Neill.

I'm Jonathan Dummer, and I don't live in a... A SEVERAL MILLION DOLLAR HOME A SEVERAL MILLION DOLLAR HOME A SEVERAL MILLION DOLLAR HOME DOWN THE ROAD A FEW MILES, DOWN THE ROAD A FEW MILES, DOWN THE ROAD A FEW MILES, I LIVE RIGHT ON THE PROPERTY I LIVE RIGHT ON THE PROPERTY I LIVE RIGHT ON THE PROPERTY LINE WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT.

LINE WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT. LINE WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT. AS DOES, RAISE YOUR HANDS, AS DOES, RAISE YOUR HANDS,

Those folks also don't live down in Million Dollar. We are working class people. I got there in 64 with my father. He couldn't get a loan to build a house. He built a doobie house, used child labor, his kids to build that house. We are rich people. We're people that were out there. We enjoy the community, enjoy the rural atmosphere. I want to say one thing that really disturbs me is To learn that this fourth corner, this fourth corner.

Please speak to the commission.

Okay, the fourth corner was in the plans before they approved Harmony Grove Village. Yet, we were told by the county that if we accepted Harmony Grove Village and the community came together and supported Harmony Grove Village, that we would not have another development north of Harmony Grove Road. This is what we were told. To find out that all along, yeah, to find out that this was planned all along, is really disturbing. It really, and if you, I don't know if we could go, now that I've heard this, if we could go back and look at the record from when the Board of Supervisors approved this, I can't recall, I think maybe Bill Horn even said it at the time, that we're all winning here, that this development is gonna keep Another development from being built south of Harbinger Road. So it's really disturbing to understand that everybody knew. We were the only folks that didn't really understand this was going to happen. You asked for a change. Well, the change is this. JP has shown that the courts, the county, the developer, all planned on using Johnston Road as an emergency exit. It's clearly there. But now... in the report from county, they're saying absolutely not. We are not depending on that. That's your change. CEQA requires that if there's a significant change, losing the secondary exit, which they promised is a significant change, CEQA requires another look. This should be analyzed again, and that's what we're asking for. Lastly, put the development in, but please give us a secondary exit of some sort. Thank you.

Excuse me. I have a quick question for the last speaker. You indicated you live in the area or adjacent to the property?

I live on the property line. As I said, my father came out there. We built the first house out there in 62.

So you know where exactly the property lines are?

Yeah. Thank you. I'm right on the property line. They're both adjacent, right? As is, again, all those other folks up there. Quick question. Yeah, and I will point this out. I mean, I looked up on CAL FIRE, and CAL FIRE analyzed our little community of 27 homes, and they said, this is the analysis of CAL FIRE, you guys need a secondary exit. That's with 27 homes. Now we're gonna be 27 homes plus 400 people.

Has your neighborhood gotten together and tried to create a secondary access?

There is a way from the development. There's two different ways you could create a secondary.

We don't need to go into that dialogue any further. I just asked a yes or no question.

They didn't come up with a reason.

I didn't ask about the developer, I asked about your neighborhood existing.

Our 27 neighbors have not come up with the $20 million to put in a secondary exit, absolutely. But then we're only 27 homes.

Do you have any issue with the rework and the reformulation of the portion of the report on greenhouse gas?

I do.

What is it?

My concern is that this is something that's going to have to be followed up by the HOA And also the county said that they would be the ones that would follow up and make sure that this was going to keep mitigating the greenhouse gases. But the county wasn't able to make the developer of Harmigrove Village finish all the things that were part of Harmigrove Village, the plan. They didn't do the community center. They didn't do the equestrian park.

On this project and this reformulated EIR, what is your objection to the analysis of of the greenhouse gases and or the affordable house component.

We submitted a letter to that in that regards. So that's addressed.

Yeah, all our letters have all the detail in it.

Lawyers submitted letters and the Sierra Club is also submitting a letter. But I just want to point out that you have the discretion for any reason at all, any policy reason consistent with community values, growth management, land use policies, even if CEQA clearance is complete and adequate, you still have the discretion. It's a discretionary decision. The Board of Supervisors can say no to this, even if CEQA says yes. I appreciate your input. That's a fact. You can look it up. And the lawyers are saying the same thing.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

When your name is called, please approach the lectern. Just as a reminder, you will have three minutes to speak. May I please have Marilyn Johnson-Coslow, please?

Hello, my name is Marilyn Johnson-Coslow. I am a resident of Harmony Grove Spiritualist Association. My house was the only house that survived the Cocos fire. And I have nothing to say about CEQA or affordability. Do you want to hear anything that I have to say?

Do you have any comments regarding the greenhouse gas assessment that was Redone? No, sir. Any questions of the speaker? Thank you.

Thank you.

May I please have Summer Light, please?

Hello, thank you for letting me speak today. This is Summer Light. I have to address affordability. Okay, I have a moderate house in Elfin Forest. And a couple years ago, my insurance company, and this has happened to others, in our area was declared the highest risk fire zone, which this new development falls in. So they gave me, they said, you have no choice but to go through the California Fair Plan to get your fire protection insurance. So that cost me an extra $5,000. And then this year, they say, well, your only choice is the California Fair Plan. Now it's an extra $800 this year. So it keeps going up close to $1,000 a year. So you can't build homes for low income or moderate income. people in a high risk fire zone. They cannot afford the insurance. So I hope you take a clear look at that because it is recommended that we keep the developments clear of higher fire risk areas. Also, it puts a burden on our rescue resources when we have developments in high risk fire areas. Thank you.

You have a question?

Yes, I just wanted to clarify that anyone who pulled a speaker slip can speak and the commission can limit their review just to those two items. I'll repeat it. Can you hear me? Great. I just wanted to clarify that anyone who pulled a speaker slip may speak about any issue on the project. The commission may limit their review to those two issues we've been discussing. So if the prior speaker would like to come back up.

All right, so as I said, I was, my name is Marilyn Johnson Coslow. And my house was the only house that survived, the only residence that survived the Cocos fire. And I came here today because I do have a fire concern. I don't know if you know or have been in Harmony Grove. But we live in a bowl. It's a bowl. And right now, we are in the hottest, the driest year since recorded times in San Diego County. We live with the fear of fire. We really do. We live with the winds. And we're surrounded by chaparral. We're surrounded by chaparral and riches and ravines. So we live with that fear. I expect that in my lifetime, there will be another wildfire. Do I worry about getting out? Yes, I do. I worry about that. And I talked to a neighbor recently and he told me that he saw the fire approach Harmony Grove Spiritualist Association, which was incorporated, by the way, in 1896. So we've been there a long time. And you saw the picture of it just now. And he said he saw, and he's a fire professional, and he saw the fire come down and come to the spiritualist association, and it took one and a half minutes, one and a half minutes for our entire community to be destroyed. And that's what I want to end on. I want to end on the idea of community. We're still trying to rebuild our community. We're still affected by that. And so for me, I do have the same old fire concerns. I've lived through that, and I expect I'll continue to live through it. And having the development there increases my concerns, and I thank you for listening.

Could I ask you a question? before you take off. So your area is just along the edge of the Escondido Creek?

That's right. We're at the terminus.

Do you do brush management? Does your community do brush management? Do you clear 100 feet from any structure in your community?

I wish I could bring my friend Marina up, who's on the board. We spend more money on brush management than anything. I just looked at our budget. We spend so much time getting rid of all of the brush. We have the oldest oak trees in the area, and all of the brush has been taken care of, all of it. And we have volunteers who help us.

That's a good thing. All the communities need to start reflecting on what we participated in over the last 40 years or so, creating these preserves for natural vegetation.

Yes.

And the hillside you mentioned.

Yes.

Another large preserve.

Yes.

But in doing that, we tend to not pursue property taxes on those properties.

Yeah.

Which limits the amount of resources that can be put towards fire management.

Yes.

And creating breaks in vegetation areas where you can assist the fire management folks with trying to control anything that might break free.

Yes.

And we seem to have drifted away from that over the years, which can lead to some of the fire events that we've been witnessing recently. We did in this county go from 1969 to 2003 when the Cedar Fire happened without any major fire events. And that was largely because we did practice fire management. And so I'm glad to hear your community is staying on top of that, and that's something that we need to revisit, I think, with all the preserves and open space preservation of brush and riparian areas and everything else, and the consequences that has on existing communities and proposed communities.

I hear you. I thank you for saying that to me.

Next, may I please have Andrew Laderman, please?

Good morning. My name is Andy Laderman, and I live in Eden Valley. For those of you not familiar, Eden Valley is about a mile away from the proposed site off of Country Club, so it would be on the main evacuation route out of the area. Also point out, not only do I just live a mile away from it, not seven miles away was characterized earlier, and also I live in a modest 1,800 square foot house that was built in 1959, so not a McMansion. Eden Valley is one of several rural communities close to the proposed development site. One feature we share in common with the site, as you've heard, is that we're all in CAL FIRE designated very high fire risk areas that burnt regularly since records have been kept and more frequently over the last few decades as our climate has become hotter and drier. I want to talk to you about actual experience evacuating. particularly during the Cocos fire. I hope you listen to me as you've already listened and read the reports by the paid experts of the developer. This is what really happens during a fire. During the fire, Country Club Drive, the narrow two-lane road that connects all of our communities, as well as the proposed development, was gridlocked for several hours as residents of Eden Valley, Harmony Grove, and Elfin Forest all tried to flee the approaching flames by the only route out of the area. It took my family over an hour to go the one mile along country club from our driveway to a road junction, the concrete jungle that offered safe routes out of the area. While at the same time, fire trucks were attempting to go along the same two lane road in the opposite direction to reach the fire. But remember, at the time of the Cocos Fire, and also when the county approved this, the Harmony Grove Village was only at the grading stage, and Valley Arno had yet to be approved. I cannot imagine the mayhem that would occur during an evacuation if this project is approved. The residents of all of these three new housing developments will be joining everyone else trying to evacuate on Country Club, a road that proved inadequate during the Cocos Fire. Only this time the number of residents trying to flee the flames will have more than tripled. This is a recipe for a major disaster and significant loss of life. I urge you to put the safety of existing and future residents above the profits of a greedy developer and reject this dangerously cited proposal. And please don't hide behind the appeal at court decision. to say that you don't have discretionary power. You do have discretionary power. You can reject this for any reason. If you decide to hide behind that appeal at court decision, in the case of the next major wildfire, the blood will be on your hands.

That's it. Are there any questions? Yes, sir. I've got a quick question for you. At the time the Cocos fire occurred, Was the bridge built that connects Harmony Grove Village Parkway over to Citricado Parkway?

It was not built, but there was another route that was at that same junction that went out through the business park that headed onto 9th Avenue. So that path was available.

Okay, but that bridge is now in place.

That bridge is now in place, but you still have to go along Country Club to get to that bridge.

So it goes over to Citricado and then down to West Valley Parkway. Yeah, but you still need to get there. There is still Country Club to travel along. That is, in effect, a second way out of the area.

Yes, but there was a second way out through there at the time of the fire.

At the beginning, you made it sound as if Country Club Drive was the only way out.

Well, no, you could take that way, but there were flames going through there, and actually homes right on that junction did burn down, so it wasn't a very practical way to get out.

Thank you.

Okay. Well, thank you for your time.

Next, we have the Sierra Club chapter. Can I please have Ms. Lisa Ross, Ron Askland, and Michael King, please?

Good morning, Commissioners, and thank you again for letting us talk with you today. Hey, I'm old enough. to have participated in the planning of Santa Luz, it was Black Mountain Ranch at that time, and Pacific, oh, I'm so sorry, Lisa Ross, I'm chair of the San Diego chapter of Sierra Club. We were, at the time I was on a planning board that helped negotiate those two smart growth communities back in the 90s, though they were smart growth, and indeed, This project is attractive if it was in the right place, but instead it is another car-dependent sprawl. This is not infill, and it's located in an area of high vehicle miles traveled, a very high fire risk zone, and high habitat values. The process of evaluating projects seeking a general plan amendment demands careful scrutiny, and a rigorous application of planning standards. Amendments to the general plan are not routine actions. They represent consequential decisions that should be in the public interest, reinforce environmental stewardship, and exemplify smart growth. Proper stewardship calls for vigilance in protecting our natural resources, supporting the vitality of established community, and advancing the county's climate goals. It's for this reason that we recommend not approving this project. Thank you.

Good morning, commissioners. I'm Dr. Ronald Asklin, chair of the San Diego Sierra Club Conservation Committee. County staff stated that CEQA requires that a court's order includes only those mandates that are necessary to achieve compliance with CEQA and only those specific projects in noncompliance with CEQA. They go on to say that, therefore, other than greenhouse gas, no other portion of the 2018 EIR must be revised. However, this is in direct conflict with what the Court of Appeals directed them to do. They said they directed the county to decertify the entire EIR and rescind all project approvals. And I quote, we do, however, agree with Sierra Club's assertion that severance is not appropriate here because the greenhouse gas emission mitigation measure is intertwined with the EIR. As Sierra Club states, upon reexamination of mitigation measure, MGHG1, the county may conclude additional alternatives are feasible or must be analyzed. Changes to project requirements driven by changes to the measure might require revision of various impact areas, including, for example, traffic and circulation air quality impacts. The prior EIR was decertified in its entirety. The county must consider anew this entire EIR, not just the one recirculated section. before any approval of the project. We strongly disagree with staff's interpretation of res judicata. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Michael King and I am a conservation organizer in the North County with the Sierra Club of San Diego. I want to make clear that the club has long been a supporter of affordable, sustainable housing in the North County. And we have supported thousands of units of infill, low VMT, and low emissions housing across the county. As a club, we believe affordable, sustainable housing is essential, not just for meeting our urgent community needs, but for tackling the climate crisis and protecting our natural heritage. That's why our policy calls for building homes in existing urban areas, near jobs and public transit, where people can thrive without adding to traffic, sprawl, or pollution. A development built adjacent to thousands of acres of natural land is nobody's definition of infill. If this project is infill, then the term has no meaning. Genuine infill development is about more than housing policy. It's a climate and justice policy, one that ensures our neighborhoods are resilient, inclusive, and sustainable for generations to come. This development fails on all of those metrics. We strongly oppose this development and urge the Commission to vote against approval. We support new housing, but this development and others like it are not the answer to our housing crisis. Let's think long-term and work together to chart a more sustainable, equitable, and affordable housing future in the North County. Thank you.

May we please have Kelvin Barrios, please?

Good morning, Chair, Commissioners. My name is Kelvin Barrios. I am the Director of Government Affairs for the Laborers Union Local 89. It's the guys in orange shirts. That's our union color. It's also, you know, you see that on construction sites a lot. I'm here today on behalf of my business manager, Valentin Macedo, and our nearly 5,000 members here in San Diego County. We are proud to stand in strong support of the Harmony Grove Village South project. This project brings nearly 500 new homes, including affordable units, at a time when working families are being priced out of the housing market. It also balances development with the preservation of open space, new parks, community gardens, and critical infrastructure like upgrades to the new bridge over Escondido Creek. But what truly makes this project stand out is a labor agreement in place. Harmony Grove Village South will be built with union labor. That means this community will be constructed safely, efficiently, and to the highest standards. It also means hundreds of San Diegans will earn good families sustaining wages and have access to strong training programs and apprenticeships that will create lifelong careers. When projects like this invest in both housing and good jobs, everyone wins. Families will have new homes. Our members will have will have opportunities to work close to where they live, and the county will benefit from tax revenues and long-lasting infrastructure improvements. This project is forward-thinking. It delivers on sustainability with net-zero energy homes, solar, and EV-ready design, while also delivering on economic justice with fair wages and safe working conditions. On behalf of Laborers Local 89, I urge you to approve this project. Harmony Grove Village South is not just housing. It's a blueprint for how we can build stronger, safer, and more equitable communities in San Diego County. Thank you.

Up next, can we please have Steve Barker, please?

Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for allowing this feedback. I'm Steve Barker. I've lived in Elfin Forest for 40 years. I find it kind of hysterical that we're portrayed as a rich community and that I originally moved on to a smallest house I could afford on a dirt road. But over my 40 years, I also became part of the fire department. And in 2017, retired as a battalion chief of the Elfin Forest Ranch of Santa Fe Fire Department. I'm here today as in opposition of this speculative project and would ask for your discretion in denying it based on fire concerns. Relevant to this discussion, I was the single engine resource on the Cocos Fire when the winds changed And all of the resources were on the west side, thinking that it was going to be driven by Santa Ana winds. As we all know, that wind changes. And that's what really blew up the Cocos fire and forced it into Harmony Grove. I was a single engine resource that came down Harmony Grove. And the road closed behind us as the fire swept down the hill. And so took it upon myself and my fellow engineer to try to support evacuation from the southern part of the creek. And I can tell you from that experience and the chaos that happened and the congestion just with the small amount of residents, horse trailers, et cetera, that this is a really dangerous fire area. And without a second access or exit out of the area, this is a disaster waiting to happen. I don't have a lot of conflicts of interest in having to balance a budget or responsible for seeing more homes built in San Diego. I understand all those responsibilities. I have tremendous respect for the leadership of Rancho Santa Fe Fire. And so this is difficult to take a position in opposition, but this is a potential death trap. And a few years from now when And it will happen again because I've seen the Del Dios fire, the Harmony fire, the Cocos fire, as well as hundreds of other fires come to that area. It's going to happen again. I think we all want to sit here and think we made the best decisions for those people. not for budgets, not for more homes, but for the people that are there. And I would urge you to deny this project. Until it's got a secondary access, it just doesn't make any sense. So thank you very much for your time.

Up next, can we please have, and forgive me, is it Condra Coricia?

Hello, I'm Kendra Correa, Harmony Grove Village. We need your help with protecting our communities from disastrous evacuation conditions. We've all seen the results of the lack of appropriate egress during the Palisades and Hawaii fires. This caused complete gridlock conditions for evacuating residents, just too many people and nowhere to go. Evacuees were forced to abandon their cars, take children, pets, elderly family, and try to make their way out to safety on foot. These were both older established communities without the opportunity to provide adequate egress. Strategic planning with Harmony Grove Village South can alleviate placing our communities into this exact same dangerous scenario. Since the Cocos and Harmony Grove fires swept through our area, three new communities, Harmony Grove Village, Viliano, and Harmony Grove Village South, will be adding 3,000 vehicles to the next evacuation process. We need to be smart, learn from experience, and from the very recent examples of fire disaster. We need to listen to the experts when they state, and the homeowners surrounding that area, The single egress creates a death trap for residents. Yet here we are with a new development currently being spared the additional expense for an egress that impacts the safety of multiple communities. The developer will be long gone with their profits and leaving the residents in peril during the next evacuation. Although I can't add any new data or information to this project, I can provide you with the impact of approving this project without additional egress. Myself and others during the next evacuation will have a choice to make. Am I one of those people that you see on TV staying on my property, armed with a garden hose, wearing a mask, trying to ride out the fire, or do I evacuate into solid gridlock with the hope that I won't have to abandon my car and flee on foot through smoke and embers, and as a single senior, I'm not interested in that. I would hope I would have other choices to stay safe. Neither choice is a safe one. Please do not approve Harmony Grove Village South without the second egress. Thank you.

May I please have Kevin Bernard, please?

Good morning, Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this project. My name is Kevin Bernard, and full disclosure, I am on the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection board and I live adjacent to the proposed project, so technically under state law I have a conflict. I just want to be clear about that. I want to make a quick comment about the cost that has been incurred by the proponent to this point, $6 million, shall we say. The individual behind this, Mr. Arsenault, is worth about $1.5 billion. And if he were to spend a dollar of his money every second, $6 million, he'd go through that in about 80 days. But the rest of his fortune would take him about 40 years to spend at a dollar a second. So I don't think he's taken a huge hit on this thing. And he probably has the ability to make about $100 million on this thing. So I just want to give that some context. Fire is my big concern. I'm a retired San Diego police officer. I also worked for the Sheriff's Department before I went to San Diego PD. My father and brother are both retired San Diego City firefighters. I have some background in that area, at least the culture of it, some understanding of it. I ran for the board of the protection district. primarily because of what I've seen going on in regards to this project. And I just thought that some more public safety input needed to be had on that board. There's an interesting thing going on here. There's kind of a circular argument going on about this secondary access. I think, as I understand it here today, that we all agree that the access out to Johnston Road does not exist. It's not viable. And So I assume that's what we're going on today. We're not gonna use that. And I agree, it's not usable. That route actually includes part of my driveway, my private driveway, and several other private driveways that go along that route. My driveway's 12 feet wide. And then it goes on to a dirt utility easement that then connects to Johnston Road. The whole route is about three quarters of a mile long through heavy chaparral on a steep slope. Actually, I have a couple of photos for you here. If anybody would like to see them, I'll let you take a look at it. But it's impassable. So when this went to court, the appellate court specifically, the RCS, the company that's behind this, in their brief on page 46, presented to the court. The EIR, I'll read it to you. The EIR cautiously assumed that the second access was unavailable, but in an emergency, there is a second access that fire and law enforcement personnel can use for evacuations. In the words of one speaker, there was only a perception that only one route was available for emergency egress. Indeed, residents have used this other access called Johnston Road in other emergencies. That's not true. Well, what I'm saying, and then the appellate court cites, additionally, the EIR and fire plan addressed the availability of an alternative evacuation route connecting to another road, Johnson Road, in emergency situations where people needed to be moved east, and the primary access route, Country Club, was not available. And then on another part of the, appellate decision. Another premise of the respondent's argument is that there is only a single evacuation route that will leave residents stranded if blocked by fire. But the fire plan explains that another road out of the project area is accessible to passenger vehicles, the one to Johnson Road. But we all agree here today that that's not available. And then we have this argument of res judicata. Well, the appellate court relied on information that Johnston Row was available. But here today, we're saying it's not. So you can't have it both ways. It's one or the other. So this project exists right now with one way in and one way out.

Give your photographs to the secretary.

Yes. Thank you.

Can I please have Susan Williams, please?

Good morning. Can everyone hear me okay? Okay, awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to us today. I know a lot of the comments have been repetitive, but we feel it warrants speaking to that again. Let me start here. Good morning, commissioners, and thank you for your time today. My name is Susan Williams. I have lived in Harmony Grove Village since 2016. I have served on our HOA board since 2020, and I currently serve as president. I also serve on the San Diego Community Planning Group. We understood that living in a high fire severity zone comes with responsibility and fire safety has always been our highest priority. I want to be clear, Harmony Grove Village South was never made aware to our community as an extension of Harmony Grove Village. At no point were residents or HOA informed of this fact by the project developers or the county. Our existing community was approved with rigorous fire protection plan mitigations covering building standards, landscaping, and vegetation requirements. Both the San Diego Planning Group and Harmony Grove Village HOA have both unanimously voted to approve Sorry, to oppose the proposed development of Harmony Grove Village South. Supporters of this project point to adequate fire evacuation routes, but the 2018 EIR and traffic study did not account for the existing residents of Harmony Grove Village and Elfin Forest. In reality, the project would add another $3,000. additional vehicles to a narrow two-lane road that already struggles in emergencies. During, I believe it was June of 2018, perhaps 2017, but I'm pretty sure it was 2018, fire on Country Club. I witnessed flames in the neighborhood. It took more than 30 minutes for law enforcement to arrive in direct traffic, even as aircraft were dropping retardant. The delays highlight the danger of relying on traffic control without proper evacuation infrastructure. Affordability. Another concern is insurance. Many homeowners in Harmony Grove Village and the surrounding area have received notices of non-renewal from their insurance carriers. Some have even been forced into the California Fair Plan, which is extremely expensive and continues to rise. It's not clear how future residents of this project would even find and let alone afford homeowners insurance in such a high-risk fire zone. without adequate evacuation routes. I am not opposed to new housing or new developments. In fact, I live in a new development myself. To be clear, Harmony Grove Village and Harmony Grove, our area is not another Delmar Heights, it's not another Forest Ranch, it's not another Rancho Penasquitos. The site sits at the end of a cul-de-sac in a valley with steep terrain on three sides. There is one way in and one way out. High density housing here would endanger not only future residents, but the thousands of families already living in Harmony Grove and proposed Valleano projects. In a true emergency, evacuation is life or death without secondary access. May I continue? I'm almost done. Yes? No? Thank you.

Summarize and conclude.

Thank you. Secondary, the project is not the right project for the right place. For these reasons, I sincerely ask you to oppose it. Thank you for your time and commitment to protecting our communities.

Up next, can we please have Alonso Gonzalez, please?

Thank you. Good morning, commissioners, county staff. I'm Alonso Gonzalez, speaking as acting director of the San Diego Housing Coalition. We're a broad coalition of community-based organizations and civic leaders, and we're supporting accessible entry-level housing, what the applicant today very appropriately called the missing middle. Our position is that affordable, accessible housing is achieved regionally, not solely by government-subsidized affordability. It comes from a very diverse housing stock, from having and adding homes that include entry-level multi-family housing. A diversity of housing options is what drives regional affordability. This point of view got a major boost earlier this year when the Federal Reserve released a study showing that construction of market rate homes is the most significant thing we can do to help calm increasing rents and sales prices. So while that 10% affordability is very nice, particularly to those families who will get to live in those units, the 90%, that are a mixed market rate and a diverse design of single family and multi-family homes, that is what our region really needs. It's also our position that it's a sad state of affairs when a project can be delayed for over five years with the net result of adding 10% deed restrictions and solar panels. So these concessions might be great, but it comes at a big cost. Using the staff time of the county, the reviewing agencies, reducing the availability and affordability of the rest of these units. So having previously sat up there on a dais myself as a city council member, and before that as staff to the San Diego Land Use and Housing Committee, I know your job can be tricky, but in this case, we have the benefit of a project that has already been vetted and re-vetted. by county staff and the supervisors that previously approved and even the courts now agree that the CEQA analysis is complete and exhausted. So ultimately, this proposal on this site merits a recommendation of approval in large part because of that two minute feature. The less than two minutes from public transit and just over two minutes from an employment centers. Thank you for your consideration.

Next, can I please have Melinda Vasquez, please?

Good morning, everybody. My name is Melina Vasquez. I am an attorney, and I also am a resident of Rancho Penasquitos, and I have other connections. I'm a former planning group member, and so I'd like to just offer you my plea for your support for affordable housing. It is my understanding that this is the only project that the county is looking forward to approving in the near future. We have been in an affordable housing crisis since 2013. Arena numbers for this project, sorry, arena numbers or updated ones for the San Diego County is 171,685. That is, and we're nowhere near this. This project is a step in the right direction. 453 units, although they're not affordable, a mixed income community is how we address this problem. Yes, there are concerns. There are issues with building, period. But if you take the opposition side, what you're essentially saying is that we're no longer going to improve affordable housing, regardless if our general plan is in support of it. And we've already told the residents and given them proper notice that guess what? Your community is going to expand essentially this large. This project, we should be applauding developers like this developer who for taking into account our environmental issues with reusable energy. And we should also be applauding him for coming here and seeking approval instead of just doing the project. Because it's my understanding that this is not put forth before you for purposes of a community amendment plan, but rather to make sure that the county is going to support this. We did not support collectively, when it was on the ballot, Measure B, another project that would have provided mixed income housing so that residents can live and die in the same community. They can afford to do so. Instead, what we do is similar, is we stand behind the protections of CEQA saying, hey, look, well, this is a fire hazard. Guess what? Every single unit in San Diego County is a fire hazard. hazard. Welcome to San Diego County. And when I hear, I live in the inner cities, I'm a member of Rancho Penasquitos. I was evacuated from the glens in Rancho Penasquitos in 2007 because we only have one form of egress. So when the opposition gets up here and tells you that there is no community that has only one egress or ingress, they're lying to you. Rancho Penasquitos Boulevard is the only way in for the Glens community. And what we did was during the fires in 2000, please support this plan. This is the only way forward in order to address the affordable housing issue, crises, that's been going on since 2013. Thank you.

That is the last of our in-person speakers. Sean, do we have anyone on hold for item number two?

We have two callers for item number two. I'll be joining the conference shortly. Thank you for your patience. With the caller ending in the last four digits of 4548, please press star six to unmute your mic, and please state your name for the record before you begin speaking.

My name is Mary Cross.

I can hear you. Go for it. Mary, can you hear us?

Now I can speak?

Yep, go for it.

Thank you. I'm hearing an echo, but I'll work around that. Thank you for the comment. I apologize in advance if I repeat anything, but I can't connect to the meeting to hear what's been said. As I said, my name is Mary Cross. I'm a native San Diegan. raised in Pacific Beach. I've lived in Elton Forest for 42 years. A lot sizes out here are a minimum of space. I lived through the Harmony Grove fire in 1996 and at least three more fires since then. We don't need another huge development in Harmony Grove in our rural area, especially one that has no secondary education. Harmony Grove Road and Elfin Forest Road and not handle that much traffic during an emergency. It's only two lanes. Originally, we were told that Harmony Grove Village was going to be the only large development that would go in. That was built quite a while ago, and apparently that was a lie. If we have another large fire, especially during the Santa Ana, there will be deaths and the county will be held liable for that sort of loss. We do not recommend approval of this development. It is a disaster waiting to happen. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. With the caller ending in the last four digits of 1540, please press star six to unmute your mic, and please state your name for the record before you begin speaking.

This is Eric from the San Diego North Economic Development Council.

Thank you, Commissioner, for the opportunity today.

I believe you've already gotten the council's letter. And again, in support of the project, but I just want to underscore two facts from that letter that could speak to the question about affordability. As we pointed out, if we look at the years between 2015 to 2025, the two cities, the urbanized areas of San Marcos and Escondido added 16,000 net new jobs. In that same period of time, 5,000 homes, a little bit over 5,000 homes were added. And that means that we've got three net new jobs facing every one net new home. And you don't need to be an economist. You don't need to have training in microeconomic theory to understand that that is an imbalance which has been directly contributing to San Diego's affordability crisis. Why homes are unaffordable. And this project adds much-needed inventory to an area that is proximate to jobs. As we pointed out, it's less than five miles to South State San Marcos, the fastest-growing CSUSM in the system. It's less than four miles to the new Kaiser Hospital, providing additional health care. It's less than a couple miles from Palomar Health Care, both in the Kia dealership and the San Diego Auto Parts. This is why, with all due respect to my friends from the Fair Club, it's why it is infill. It is west of Interstate 15. It is proximate to fast-growing job sites. It's adjacent to already-urbanized suburban development. And I just have to say to the Commission and to the Board, you know, we can always find things about any project in this county. I'm sure we can nitpick projects in... Eternals inside or downtown San Diego. But fundamentally, if we do not add housing inventory to this region, we will see what we've seen over the last 10 years. Families being displaced, others being forced to make mega commutes from southern Riverside and beyond, and a real problem of household incomes being squeezed. as their budgets go more and more to housing. I urge you to approve this project, and not only do that, but do it emphatically to send a message that we can do projects in San Diego County, and we can approve much-needed housing. Thank you very much today.

Thank you for your comments. This concludes all callers.

That ends the public testimony. Is there any questions or discussion by the members of the commission?

I have a question for counsel. I've heard virtually nothing on greenhouse gas. I've heard absolutely nothing other than positive on affordable housing. Respectfully, I've been an attorney for 56 years. I've tried all kinds of cases all over this state. So I think I know something about race judicata. My question is this, since 98% of the comments have been directed to fire issues, I don't want to get involved in things that I don't think are relevant, but we have the experts here in the audience on fire life safety for the sake of a complete record for the appeal that will occur Should we hear from those experts? Because if so, Council, I'd like to hear from the experts.

Commissioner. I think that's fine. Do you agree?

Commissioner Edwards, through the Chair. Yeah, we invited down Chief Deva McQuaid of the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District. If you want to ask any specific questions, the Chief is here to help.

Chief, can you help me out? Could you give me an overview of your thoughts on the secondary access and the fire and life safety issues that we face here?

Yeah, 100%. Well, sorry about that. Put my classroom voice on. So the project obviously was in front of the Planning Commission in 2018 in May. My predecessor, Tony Michel, presented all the facts as to why they looked at the 4,200 lineal feet of road that was dead end, but to look for solutions, methods, measures that could still meet the intent of the code. And the solution that came to play was the fact that you actually have a three lane road, two meaning for egress, one is for emergency access into that development and also for the existing residents that are out there. In 2018, I think you guys have brought up a couple of points in here. Citricado was not Citricado back in that day. Today it is a four-lane road, two going north and two going south. It connects now West Valley Parkway all the way into the industrial park area because of the bridge that actually has been installed and completed. So it does give us a lot of options for us as fire and how do we get residents evacuated or even businesses evacuated into the city of Escondido or even into San Marcos. We, as the fire department, we're talking about a project today, but I got to deal with the fire that's going to happen today. And so that's one of the things we do as chief officers is that we become the incident command. We get toned out, we show up, we do a report on conditions and start doing command and control procedures with the resources that we've ordered and put them into play. to one, meet the biggest incident objective, and that is life safety, and that's twofold. That's not only for the firefighters and the resources that we ordered going into the incident, but it is also the civilians, the residents that are in the pathway of that fire, or any kind of emergency incident it may be. One of the things that we do, and you will see it every time, It's called unified command and you have two of us sitting at the same table right now. This is what it would look like at an incident command post. We have one incident action plan. We have a calm plan and we create those management objectives, incident objectives. And one of those big things, like we said, is evacuation. We, try and determine what is the current and expected fire behavior based on topography, fuel, and weathers that we're encountering right now, and what's it gonna look like in a couple hours or tomorrow. But we work with our partners, law enforcement, And in this area, it could be Sheriff's Department for sure, Escanudo Police Department. We are also what we call State Responsibility Area, SRA. That means Cal Fire owns the dirt when there's a vegetation fire. And that is another component of the Unified Command. So there are a lot of cooperators at the back of a truck until we formalize and maybe have to get into a building, aka our Station 5, which is very close to this project. or any incident that may happen in that area. But we have had tools now that have been implemented into our toolbox that we didn't have in 2018. Back then we had something called Public Safety Grid. Most of you guys have probably seen now the presentations on what we call Genesis EVAC. So the squares have now turned into zones that portray what's the population, what are the impacts, other schools, other hospitals, how many residents, how many businesses are gonna be impacted if we activate a zone to be a warning or it's an order. So that's how we work together for the safety of the civilians that are impacted and for the first responders that are coming in. But yeah, that three lane road as an incident commander, keep it simple, clear direction, move, that's it. That's our job. And, yeah, we do it with the firefighters. We have to do it with the civilians also. So that's the end of my report, unless you have any further questions or if I've missed any component of your ask.

Thanks for your comments. It's very enlightening to understand all the work that goes into this.

Any other comments, questions?

No.

Having heard all the public testimony, is there a motion?

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to approve the staff recommendation.

Second.

Second.

Any other discussion regarding the motion?

I don't have any comments. I feel satisfied with the county staff report and I'm in agreement with the recommendation.

I too, Mr. Chair, and having listened to the comments of the chief and the program that he has instituted, I'm satisfied that all of the fire related issues that have been raised, even though I don't think they're relevant, are addressed.

And I tend to see things in the same light. There are other opportunities out there. Sometimes the neighbors, the existing property owners, can get together and provide opportunities also. Instead of standing in line waiting for the first development interest that comes by, And then again, I'm gonna keep repeating this. We need to start thinking about what we do when people come in and create open space preserves and start putting all of this vegetation in a hands-off condition because it contributes to this. And those folks, when they do it, they need to start mitigating. They need to deal with what they've taken away from the general plan. They need to deal with paying for the services, particularly fire service. And I think that's usually done through property taxes. But that being said, Madam Secretary, please call the vote.

Commissioners, when your name is called, please vote. Chair Ashman?

Yes.

Commissioner Calvo? Yes. Commissioner Edwards?

Yes.

Commissioner Pallinger?

Yes.

And Commissioner Sudbury?

Yes.

Let the record show that this item passes with a vote of five in favor, none opposed, and one absent.

Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. Mr. Director, when is this scheduled to go to the Board of Supervisors?

We are tentatively planning for October 1st to bring it to the Board of Supervisors.

Mr. Chairman, I maybe respectfully suggest that one of our commissioners here represent the commission when this goes to the Board of Supervisors. Not that we need to do it now, but I'd like to, between now and then, maybe assign one of us to represent the commission.

And that actually is going to bring up the department report because there's some speculation as to whether or not we're having a meeting next month.

Happy to resolve that speculation now. There will be no September 19th planning commission. We don't have any agenda items for that date. But I would note during the director's report, During the months of September and October, we'll also be bringing two appeals of prior planning commission decisions, the Paradise Valley Wireless Facility and the Cottonwood Sand Mine to the Board of Supervisors as well.

And Mr. Chairman, may I interrupt again? I think Commissioner Sudbury will represent the Commission for the Cottonwood at the Commission. Correct. At the Board of Supervisors.

Yes. That's a discussion we had amongst us. So the sand mine permit is scheduled for the board on what date?

We are still finalizing the specific dates, but we'll keep you posted when we are planning to docket it.

Okay.

I thought we had a date set for that when I committed to it, so I need to know the date before I can commit.

We will have to follow up through the chair and to the commissioner offline just as we are finalizing dates.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah, and we'll adjust accordingly. Is there anything else on the director's report?

There's nothing else on the report, thank you.

So our next scheduled Planning Commission hearing will be in October? Correct. If there's no other comments, then this meeting's now adjourned.