Council Moves Ahead With Plans to Annex ‘Island,’ Exert Pressure on Poway

The San Diego City Council Tuesday voted to proceed with the annexation of 435 acres of controversial county land northeast of Scripps Ranch, and approved a plan designed to pressure the City of Poway to complete a vital east-west road through the area.

The council’s 5-3 vote clears the way for the city to bring its application for annexation of the “county island” to the Local Agency Formation Commission next week. Mayor Maureen O’Connor, Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer and Councilman Bob Filner opposed the action.

Four developers are proposing to build 1,350 units on most of the hilly terrain, which has been the subject of city annexation plans for seven years.

Two Lawsuits Filed

But two lawsuits have been filed in an attempt to block the developments on the grounds that construction would violate Proposition A, the slow-growth measure approved by city voters in 1985.

The Sierra Club and San Diegans for Managed Growth, which jointly filed a lawsuit last week, contend that 320 acres of the county island are in a so-called “future urbanizing area” and cannot be developed without the approval of city voters. A lawsuit filed in January by Catherine Eckmann, who lives on the edge of the area, makes the same claim.

The council, however, has voted to go ahead with the developments and approved the annexation Tuesday as a preliminary step.

“This property is totally within the sphere of influence of the City of San Diego,” said attorney Paul Peterson, who represents two of the developers, Sunburst Homes and Investor’s Leasing Corp., which together own 180 acres of the county island. “LAFCO recognizes that. This annexation recognizes that.”

Doubts About Services

But Wolfsheimer voiced doubts over whether the city will be able to extend services such as police protection, fire protection, and sewer and water lines to the area, which borders Poway just north of Pomerado and Spring Canyon roads.

O’Connor has repeatedly expressed opposition to growth in the area.

“I think we’re just rearranging the furniture on the Titanic,” she said. “This thing should not go forward. We have some major growth problems.”

A major concern of council members and residents of the area was assuring that Poway quickly completes the proposed South Poway Parkway, a 2.1-mile stretch of four-lane road between Pomerado Road and the Mercy Road interchange at Interstate 15.

Liability Concerns

The $8.5-million project is designed to take traffic off winding Pomerado, which council members said is unsafe and makes the city liable to lawsuits from accident victims. Poway is responsible for building the portion from Pomerado to the Miramar Ranch North area, where BCE Development Inc., which is developing the area, will continue construction to I-15.

Though a Poway official claimed Tuesday that the city is anxious to complete its half of the road, Councilman Ed Struiksma, who represents Scripps Ranch, pushed through a plan to hold Poway hostage until it completes construction of the road.

Once planned improvements to Pomerado are complete, San Diego will refuse to open the road to Poway traffic until South Poway Parkway is opened. That would deny Poway a major east-west artery for traffic from a large business park being planned in the area. The council approved the measure 7-1, with O’Connor dissenting.

“The whole theme is to put pressure on the City of Poway and not provide them avenues of escape,” Struiksma said. Without access to Pomerado, Poway officials could have “an economic disaster on their hands (because) no one will locate” in the business park, he said.

Because of concerns from Scripps Ranch residents that a widened Pomerado will allow increased traffic, Struiksma also won approval of a motion that schedules an advisory vote of residents before any work can be done.