Rancho Santa Fe : Bright Picture Painted for Incorporation

In case anyone had any doubt, this wealthy community can easily afford to incorporate as a city.

But more important to the leaders here, the community could legally and economically both have a city government and maintain the Rancho Santa Fe Assn. to handle the affluent village’s internal affairs. William Zion, a Lafayette, Calif.-based consultant hired to consider the community’s government options, delivered this news to the association’s directors at a meeting Wednesday.

Rancho Santa Fe Assn. directors found themselves mouthing the word “incorporation” without a shudder when they discussed the possibility of taking over from the county Board of Supervisors some of the functions that have sent Ranch residents down to the board meetings in busloads to protest.

Among the county policies and projects to which Rancho Santa Fe residents object are:

- Requirements for sidewalks, curbs, gutters and street lights in new developments. The rural estate community has a “dark skies” policy and a strict landscaping code that make these urban amenities stick out like sore thumbs.

- Plans calling for the widening and straightening of main roads through Rancho Santa Fe from winding, two-lane routes to four-lane highways, which residents think will worsen traffic congestion.

- The failure to provide sufficient traffic enforcement to curb speeding along the community’s narrow roads.

- The lack of a strict ordinance to control the use of helicopters and landing facilities in residential areas.

With incorporation, the county’s police powers and public works regulations would be handed over to community leaders, Zion said, allowing them to be tailored to the wishes of residents.

Board members expressed concern that residents would not wish to incorporate beyond the boundaries of the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant, which is an area of about 6,000 acres governed by strict rules and regulations first imposed in 1927 governing everything from voting rights of residents to restrictions on hanging laundry in public view.

Zion pointed out that, with incorporation of a larger area, Rancho Santa Fe would gain control over decisions made outside the covenant boundaries.

Gail McLeod, covenant administrator, told association directors that Jane Merrill, executive director of the Local Agency Formation Commission, had told him that LAFCO probably would require larger boundaries, probably no smaller than the county service district which provides sewer services to Rancho Santa Fe area and to several adjacent subdivisions outside the covenant boundaries.

A third incorporation boundary studied by Zion included neighboring Whispering Palms, another golf course community. Zion said incorporation was economically feasible for all three areas, with no significant financial differences among the three.

Director Richard Scuba said incorporation of just the Rancho Santa Fe area might lead to the same mistake that the 5,000-resident city of Del Mar made.

“They (Del Mar leaders) thought they could build a wall around the town,” Scuba said, but the City of San Diego approved residential developments for a population of more than 50,000 on the smaller city’s eastern boundaries.

Association directors agreed that, if incorporation occurs, Rancho Santa Fe will continue to provide its own police and traffic control, not contract with the county Sheriff’s Department for those services. At present, residents pay for a private security patrol in addition to county sheriff’s deputies, who provide police services in unincorporated areas.

The directors will hear a second Zion report on other governmental alternatives, including the possibility of joining in the incorporation efforts of Solana Beach, at a second public session Sept. 26. A third meeting will be held in which Zion will offer suggestions and recommendations on the different government structures in a final report.