Solana Beach Moves Closer to City Vote : Panel Gives Approval for June 3 Election on Incorporation

Voters here should get to decide in June whether their community should incorporate as a city, and if they approve, the new municipality will be formed July 1, a regional commission governing incorporations decided Monday night.

Backers of cityhood for the community predicted after the decision that their drive would succeed. And they said the July 1 incorporation date would be in the best interests of the potential city’s 14,000 residents.

“We feel very, very good about it,” said Jack Moore, co-chairman of Citizens Intending to Incorporate.

“Nothing is positive. Nothing is a given,” added co-chairwoman Gail Paparian. “But if we inform the community with facts, I see no reason why intelligent people could have any other choice but to vote for self-government.”

Officially, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) decided only that an election should be held and that the city, if there is one, should incorporate July 1. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is now expected to pass a resolution that will place the issue on the next ballot, which is June 3. Only the opposition of more than 50% of the community’s registered voters could keep the question off the ballot.

Moore had pressed the organization’s argument that the community should become a city on July 1 if the June 3 vote favors incorporation.

LAFCO staff members were ordered to analyze three 1986 dates--July 1, Oct. 1 and Dec. 1--to determine the fiscal impact of each date on the new city and on the county.

Moore contended that if the city incorporation date was delayed to Oct. 1, the savings to the county would amount to about $378,000 but the new city would lose about $533,000 in revenues. The $886,000 loss to the county from a July 1 incorporation date amounts to less than 1% of its $943-million annual budget, while the city’s revenue loss from the delay would amount to more than one-fourth of its estimated annual budget, he pointed out.

LAFCO staff members recommended incorporation of the community on July 1 if the voters approve cityhood in June. The action would allow the new city of Solana Beach to receive many of its urban services, including traffic and law enforcement, from the county at no charge for 12 months, creating a surplus of about $2 million after two years of operation.

Under the LAFCO staff recommendations, Solana Beach city boundaries would exclude the county’s San Dieguito Park and most of the rural neighborhoods of Sun Valley and Montecillo, where residents have expressed a preference to remain unincorporated.

County beaches and lifeguard services within the new city limits would become a city responsibility under the staff proposal, but the new city council could contract with the county for lifeguard and beach maintenance services.

No major hurdles remain for CITI volunteers, Moore said. A hearing before the county Board of Supervisors scheduled for Jan. 15 could result in cancellation of the incorporation effort only if more than 50% of Solana Beach registered voters were opposed. Without majority opposition, the county board is required to approve the incorporation proposal.

Candidates are to begin filing for the five City Council seats on Feb. 10.

Times staff writer Daniel M. Weintraub contributed to this story.