Group Seeks Ballot Initiative
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"Protecting Miramar works hand in hand with protecting the surrounding open space," Collinsworth said. "It makes sense for everybody..."
Group seeks ballot initiative for Fanita Ranch
By Jose Luis Jiménez
STAFF WRITER
April 20, 2004
SANTEE – The effort to maintain Fanita Ranch as open space took a military twist yesterday.
The environmental group Preserve Wild Santee filed paperwork to place the "Marine Corps Air Station Miramar/Santee Hillside Protection Initiative" on the November ballot. The referendum would alter Santee's general plan to discourage development at the ranch and the city's hillsides.
Van Collinsworth, the group's executive director, said besides preserving land, the initiative would help the Miramar base remain open, which would keep an international airport from being located next to Santee. Keeping development away from the military facility might reduce future noise complaints and temper public pressure to close it.
The ranch and the base share a border.
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has selected Miramar and an adjacent site in the East Elliot area, among others, to study as possible alternatives to the aging Lindbergh Field. The Santee City Council objects to the sites because an airport would bring noisy jets over the city, which is east of the base.
Miramar officials did not return a message seeking comment.
Santee Mayor Randy Voepel called the title of the initiative "creative." He said he believes Collinsworth is masking his goal of halting development in the city by cloaking it as a military/airport issue. He predicts that it will fail like Proposition A, the recently rejected initiative that sought to preserve large chunks of San Diego County's backcountry.
"This is just a new spin on the no-growth argument," Voepel said. "This is ballot-box zoning by environmentalists."
Preserve Wild Santee said the initiative is in the best interests of the community.
"Protecting Miramar works hand in hand with protecting the surrounding open space," Collinsworth said. "It makes sense for everybody, but it might not make sense for a few developers."
The initiative would prohibit development on steep slopes that are frequently scorched by summer wildfires. It calls for one-acre-minimum estate lots for planned developments at Fanita Ranch and Rattlesnake Mountain. At Fanita Ranch, it would prohibit development within 150 feet of watercourses and vernal pools.
The group is completing paperwork and expects to start the petition drive in 30 days. It has until August to collect roughly 2,700 signatures from registered voters to qualify for the November ballot.
An executive with Barratt American Inc., the home builder that is planning to develop Fanita Ranch, doubts the initiative will affect the subdivision. Company President Mick Pattinson said about half of the 2,600 acres will be developed, with the remainder kept as open space. He also questioned whether voters will approve the initiative.
"We don't intend to apply for 2,600 homes," Pattinson said.
In 1999, Preserve Wild Santee led the drive to reject plans to build 2,988 homes on the ranch. Voters also turned down a chance to tax themselves to buy the ranch for open space.
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Jose Jimenez: (619) 593-4964; jose.jimenez@uniontrib.com