Court Upholds Incorporation Vote

The new City of Encinitas will be able to begin business as planned Oct. 1, as the 4th District Court of Appeal on Tuesday ruled against a group of anti-incorporation activists who argued that the June election measure establishing home rule was invalid.

Judges from the state appellate court in San Diego voted, 3-0, to uphold an earlier Superior Court ruling that the Local Agency Formation Commission acted properly when it approved the ballot measure, which passed overwhelmingly in the San Dieguito area of north coastal San Diego County.

The Citizens for Informed Choice on San Dieguito, composed mainly of large landowners and businessmen, maintained that LAFCO should have prepared an environmental impact report on the effect the new city would have on the county and on neighboring communities. LAFCO officials said that they followed proper procedures in setting up the election, and the appellate court agreed.

The ballot measure, Proposition K, merged the communities of Cardiff, Olivenhain, Encinitas and Leucadia into a single city of about 44,000 people. It was approved by 69% of the voters after a hard-fought campaign. There had been two previous incorporation attempts in the previous 12 years.