Ralphs Ranch Waste Plant Approved by County Board

The owners of the Ralphs Ranch project got the go-ahead Wednesday from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to build a waste water treatment plant and sewer system that would eventually serve a proposed industrial development on the North County site.

The supervisors also agreed to allow the project, known as 4-S Ranch, to join the Olivenhain Municipal Water District and the Rancho Santa Fe Fire District so that the 3,684-acre ranch will have water and fire protection service once development begins.

In December, 1984, the board of supervisors approved development of Ralphs Ranch, tucked west of Rancho Bernardo and north of the 5,000-acre La Jolla Valley development.

The 3,684 acres of rolling hills and scrub brush was originally part of the City of San Diego’s “urban reserve,” which was to remain undeveloped until 1995. Under plans for the 4-S Ranch, the industrial and residential projects would be built in small phases with only a portion of the site to be developed in nine years.

The first project, a 159-acre industrial park adjacent to Rancho Bernardo, will not be completed until mid- to late-1987, said Tom Ralphs, whose family has owned the sprawling property since 1938.

“We’re in no big hurry to pave paradise,” Ralphs said. “We have 3,600 acres to develop. My family has had its own growth management plan since 1938.”

Al Krier, a supervisor for the county planning department, said the waste treatment plant will treat the waste from the proposed industrial complex and then reclaim the water to irrigate nearby land.

Although it will be at least another 10 months before plans for the treatment plant are completed, Ralphs estimated that the plant will cost “several million dollars.”