Rancho Santa Fe Studying Self-Rule : Residents Say Cityhood Would Help Solve Growing Problems

A little over a year ago, the nasty rumor emerged: Someone had dared suggest that this exclusive estate community be included in the incorporation drive of a neighboring beach town.

Cries of shock and fear for the future of the eucalyptus-enshrouded hamlet rang out. Nervous whispers interrupted golf games and garden club meetings. Who could suggest such a thing?

The problem, some said at the time, was that incorporation might force the community to sacrifice its protective covenant, a collection of strict rules adopted in 1927 to maintain the prized character of the ritzy Ranch.

The covenant, which once included racial residential restrictions, governs everything from permissible landscaping to a homeowner’s right to hang laundry in public view. Its loss, Ranch dwellers predicted, would surely erode the enclave’s distinctive ambiance.

But today the mood here is different, the fears quelled. A consultant’s report has found that the Ranch can afford to incorporate on its own--without linking arms with its coastal neighbors--and retain the cherished covenant as well.

Buoyed by those findings, a group of residents dissatisfied with life under the county’s wing decided last week to get serious about the prospect of home rule. They formed a citizens’ committee that aims to investigate the merits of incorporation and its popularity among the Ranch’s 4,200 residents.

Mary Ann Brady, vice chairwoman of the group, said its goal is to “convince ourselves and the community that incorporation is attainable and that the benefits outweigh the risks.”

Brady said the committee plans to study the gamut of questions related to incorporation, from boundaries of the proposed city to its financial viability. Members will also meet with school groups, the riding club, golf and tennis organizations and other representative parties to survey their concerns and gauge the level of support for incorporation.

The committee expects to make a recommendation to their brethren in Rancho Santa Fe and launch a petition drive leading to the filing of an application for cityhood with the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).

LAFCO, a state agency organized at the county level, must approve all incorporation bids. Incorporation proposals for Solana Beach and a proposed city encompassing Encinitas, Leucadia, Olivenhain and Cardiff have already been approved and are headed for the June 3 ballot.

The committee’s formation, Brady said, stems from a gradual change of attitude among some Ranch residents. At one time, she said, group members believed the covenant was strong enough to preserve the rural character of Rancho Santa Fe, located about five miles east of Del Mar.

Covering a 10-square-mile area, the covenant is administered by the seven-member Rancho Santa Fe Assn., essentially a homeowners’ group. Its stringent rules are theoretically enforced by a provision that gives the association the right to confiscate the property of violators.

But today, Brady said, some residents realize the covenant may not be sufficient to maintain the Ranch’s quality of life and insulate it from urbanization that is inching ever closer. The rural village, it seems, has become a tiny island with special needs in a large county unable or unwilling to meet them.

Jim Berry, president of the Rancho Santa Fe Assn. Board of Directors, described the concerns this way in a guest editorial he wrote for a community newspaper earlier this month:

“The major reason to incorporate is to allow us to govern our own affairs, and to direct and protect our future destiny in matters of traffic, safety, land use and the encroachment from the surrounding county areas. . . . The RSF Assn. Inc. with its Art Jury, its board of directors and its covenant requirements . . . would not and could not change one iota.”

Berry could not be reached for further comment. But other supporters of incorporation cite several specific concerns that they say make cityhood an attractive prospect. The first is relief from the growing traffic problem many believe is choking the affluent community.

Characterized by narrow, winding roads, Rancho Santa Fe is at the midpoint along east-west commute routes that are growing busier by the day. Ranch leaders have sought construction of two major highways bypassing their town, but so far their efforts have proved fruitless.

In addition to the annoyance of traffic buzzing past their white-fenced estates, residents say enforcement of traffic violations is lax. Although a six-officer private security force patrols the town, its officers lack the authority to issue tickets or make arrests. And county sheriff’s deputies who roam the territory are too few to sufficiently enforce the law, residents say.

Then there is the nagging problem of street lights, sidewalks and other urban amenities now required by the county for new developments. Residents of Rancho Santa Fe, who prefer to keep their neighborhoods free of street lights, contend that new county standards requiring such improvements would spoil the country flavor of the community.

“It seems clear that the county is having a great difficulty accommodating the unique conditions and desires of a community such as ours in Rancho Santa Fe,” Brady said, summing up the committee’s concerns.

One key issue to be examined by the group is boundaries. Several scenarios were considered in the report by consultant William Zion of Lafayette, Calif., who was hired by the association to study options for the community.

Berry and other residents have endorsed the covenant’s existing boundaries as appropriate borders for an incorporated city. Others, however, have cautioned that such an approach got Del Mar in trouble. The coastal city of 5,000 defined rather limited boundaries and later watched in horror as the City of San Diego approved plans for North City West--a development project for 40,000 residents--on its eastern edge.

Another proposed boundary would include the golf course community of Whispering Palms in a newly created city. And a LAFCO representative has said that Rancho Santa Fe may well be required to have even wider boundaries--probably no smaller than the county service district that provides sewer services to the town and several adjacent subdivisions.

The designation of a “sphere of influence” is likely to be a touchy issue as well. Defining the sphere, which Ranch leaders hope will serve as a buffer zone to protect them from undesirable development, could be difficult if property owners in the affected area are reluctant to be under the control of Rancho Santa Fe officials.

While the citizens’ committee gears up, the association’s board of directors is getting ready to conclude its involvement in the incorporation process, according to Gail MacLeod, covenant administrator. MacLeod said the board, which would continue to exist along with a city council in the new municipality, feels any incorporation drive should come from the citizenry.

The directors may, however, take a position on the issue at their next board meeting, MacLeod said.