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Item 3.1 - Deletion of San Diego River Valley Regional Open Space Parkf ,_,ITY OF DON HIGGINSON, Mayor SUSAN CALLERY, Deputy Mayor BOB EMERY. Councilmemt~r , MICKEY CAFAGNA. Coun¢ihllembcr BP~ l I g REXFORD. Councilmember March 29, 1995 County of San Diego Board of Supervisors 1600 Pacific Coast Highway San Diego, CA 92101 SUBJECT: Deletion of the San Diego River Valley Regional Open Space Park Focused Planning Boundary east of Interstate 15. Dear Members of the Board: , It has come to our attention that there is a proposal to eliminate the focused planning area of the San Dieguito River Valley Open Space Park in the unincorporated area east of Interstate 15. The City of Poway has serious concerns about this suggestion. We believe that the land east of I-15 is very important not only to the San Dieguito River Park, but also to the regional multi-species habitat planning effort. We are also concerned about the proposal to block the transfer of $10,000,000 in property purchased with Proposition 70 money to the JPA. The San Dieguito River represents one of the last remaining open space river systems left in western San Diego County and coastal California. As currently established the San Dieguito River Valley Regional Open Space Park begins at Volcan Mountain, located east of Julian, and extends westward to the mouth of the San Dieguito River in Del Mar, a distance of over 55 miles. The 60,000 acre park includes virtually every natural habitat found in San Diego County including oak/pine woodlands, riparian habitat, native grasslands, fresh and saltwater marsh, coastal sage scrub, and numerous others. This park is also accommodates numerous sensitive threatened and endangered plant and animal species. Also present within the river valley is a rich diversity of cultural resources. Evidence of human activity dating back at least 9,000 years is known from this area, with remnants of California's history present throughout the length of the park. These resources include evidence of long term habitation by Native Americans, battle sites of the Mexican- American War, remnants of early European settlements, and past and present agricultural activities. The planning of the San Dieguito River valley began over 15 years ago. These early planning efforts generated numerous conservation, land use and enhancement, and constraint studies. The common theme in all of the planning documents prepared over the City Hall Located at 13325 Civic Center Drive X'""---Mailing Address: P.O. Box 789, Poway, California 92074-0789 · (619) 748-6600, 695-1400-~ .......... .,,, ,,~.,~ .... ~ -go -q~ San Dieguito River Park ' Joint Powers Authority Page 2 park's history is the preservation and enhancement of the rich resources and qualities that make the San Dieguito River Park unique. These goals are shared by the many devoted individuals and groups that have assisted in the park planning process, both 15 years ago and today. The San Dieguito River Valley Open Space Park Joint Powers Authority (JPA) came into existence in 1989. The JPA is composed of elected officials from the Cities of San Diego, Del Mar, Escondido, Poway, Solana Beach, the County of San Diego and the Chairperson of the San Dieguito River Park Citizens Advisory Committee empowered to plan and maintain the park. One of the first tasks of the JPA and support staff was to create boundaries that would define the Focused Planning Area (FPA). The boundaries of the FPA were first established in 1981 in the City of San Diego Pakarek Study, and at that time extended to Lake Sutherland. With the creation of the JPA, the boundaries of the FPA were extended east to include the entire San Dieguito River drainage, as well as several major tributary canyons and major view sheds. The placement of the park boundaries was arduously studied over many months with each jurisdiction refining its position to account for existing and proposed private development, environmental constraints, view shed and drainage tributaries. The FPA boundary is not intended to establish a static demarcation between potentially developable and undevelopable land. It serves instead to identify those areas where improper development could significantly impact the existing character of the river valley. While the ultimate goal of the JPA would be to acquire the lands within the FPA for park purposes, it is well understood that this goal will not be realized. As such, most jurisdictions have developed guidelines that permit development of private lands within the FPA. The boundaries of the FPA within the City of Poway focus on two areas; the rich riparian corridor and oak woodlands along Sycamore Creek that interconnect with the Blue Sky Ecological Preserve and two large mountain peaks that serve as primary view sheds to the San Pasqual valley and north to the City of Escondido. Both of these areas serve as important wildlife corridors and contain threatened and endangered plant and animal species. The JPA recognized the importance of the area located along Sycamore Creek and has spent hundreds of thousands of State Park Bond Act funds to acquire six parcels involving approximately 82 acres. It is unclear what the implications would be, on a State and local level, if the Poway parcels and all the other parcels similarly acquired through bond funds and other sources were no longer associated with a designated park facility. Similarly, it is uncertain what the status and nexus of the hundreds of acres acquired in the Rutherford Ranch near Julian, or of the lands previously dedicated or purchased for mitigation purposes or the parcels that have been dedicated as part of living trusts donated on the premise that the land would be used for park purposes. San Dieguito River Park , Joint Powers Authority Page 3 For over the past four years, the City of Poway has actively participated with the region in the development of comprehensive plans for the long-term conservation of regionally significant open spaces and important biological resources. This pro-active planning effort has involved dose coordination between Poway, the County of San Diego, City of San Diego, SANDAG, the San Dieguito River Park JPA, the federal and state wildlife agencies, environmental groups, and other entities and interested parties. To this end, several subregional and local jurisdiction habitat conservation plans have been drafted. The City of San Diego MSCP draft plan is now being reviewed by the public. The Draft Poway Subarea Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) has received preliminary review by the wildlife agencies and will soon be distributed for public review. The County of San Diego has delineated focused planning areas for habitat conservation within its jurisdiction. All of these plans identify the San Dieguito River Park as a viable and important regional habitat linkage and wildlife movement corridor. Specifically, the Poway HCP, which builds upon the City's 1991 General Plan update, anticipates that North Poway/San Pasqual Valley habitat linkage and regional wildlife movement corridor will ultimately be implemented by the affected jurisdictions that retain local land use and planning authority. The attached map is from the Poway HCP (Figure 2-1) and depicts this anticipated regional linkage/corridor. The public draft MSCP plan also anticipates the inclusion of a portion of San Pasqual valley within its proposed Subarea Preserve Plan (reference: Sections 8.6, 8.6.1 and Figures 8-4 and 8-5). The San Dieguito River Park is therefore a significant component of the ultimate multiple species regional preserve system. Its relationship with the evolving plans of the affected jurisdictions is based on the region's goal to establish a preserve system which satisfies the requirements of the state NCCP Act/Conservation Guidelines and the federal Section 4(d) Special Rule for the threatened California gnatcatcher. Any substantial modification to the San Dieguito River Park plan would jeopardize the approval of the local and subregional conservation plans, and the approval of the related "take" permits and authorizations from the wildlife agencies. It is apparent that certain property owners or their businesses have perceived a negative impact by their inclusion into the FPA. Until finals plans for the eastern area are solidified, the potential impacts and the mitigation measures designed to reduce or nullify the impacts cannot be fully evaluated. If certain property owners are adamant about their inclusion in the FPA, this issue should be brought forward through the Citizens Advisory Committee or the Joint Powers Authority. To arbitrarily remove thousands of acres from the park, of which over 40 percent is publicly ewned, would be an injustice to the hundreds of people, the thousand 'of hours and years that they have volunteered to work on this project and the millions of dollars spent in the development of the park and the acquisition of lands. San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority Page 4 The JPAwas created on a good faith effort among its six member agencies to plan, improve and maintain the San Diego River Valley Regional Open Space Park in a coordinated manner. The continued efforts of this organization depend on the continuing efforts and funds from its members. The possible elimination of a major agency will have significant ramifications that will seriously jeopardize the existence of the JPA, its programs, goals and objectives. We believe that further serious study is necessary before any action is taken on the proposed resolution. We strongly urge you to continue this matter until all relevant information has been gathered and thoroughly reviewed. Sincerely, Don Higginson Mayor, City of Poway Susan Callery Deputy Mayor, City of Poway JPA Representative Bob Emery Councilmember, City of Poway Mickey Cafagna Councilmember, City of Poway Betty Rexford Councilmember, City of Poway