County OKs Farm-Worker Housing Near Oceanside

A plan for a $1.5-million camp for farm workers in Bonsall was approved Friday by the county zoning administrator despite protests from Oceanside officials and surrounding property owners.

The Singh Farms’ proposal is the first major farm-worker housing project to be proposed in recent years as well as the largest in the county and perhaps in the state.

Singh’s plan to construct a two-building, 27,000-square-foot camp to house 352 workers on its Bonsall Ranch property is expected to be appealed by opponents who argue that the complex would cause problems in the rural, residential neighborhood.

Oceanside Councilman Sam Williamson also complained about the project on behalf of the city, citing concern over possible traffic problems, environmental damage and regulatory inadequacies.

Sonja Itson, county zoning administrator, ruled that the proposed camp, on North River Road near east Oceanside, meets the requirements of the county Planning Department and would improve living conditions for hundreds of farm laborers now living in makeshift migrant camps in gullies and wooded areas. The sites have no sanitary facilities or proper shelters.

Singh Farms, a North County agricultural operation for about 45 years, grows tomatoes and strawberries on about 700 acres on Camp Pendleton and in Bonsall.

Singh family members acknowledge that the worker housing is both a charitable and economic benefit for the firm because newly documented farm workers, once they receive their worker permits, are likely to move on to easier work because of farming’s low wages and lack of proper housing.

Bonsall and Oceanside residents living where the dormitories are scheduled to be built protested that such an intensive concentration of immigrant workers would impact their rural life style and their property values.

By providing housing, Singh Farms hopes to secure a stable work force for its year-round operations in the San Luis Rey and Camp Pendleton areas.

Singh Farms’ spokesman Daniel Dreger said the camp would be open only to full-time Singh workers and would cost $13 a week or less.

10-Year Minor Use Permit

Despite the opposition, Itson granted Singh a 10-year minor use permit, with the proviso that if the farm organization failed to receive a renewal on its 335-acre Camp Pendleton land lease in December, the camp would be limited to 156 occupants unless replacement land could be found.

Gloria Kelley, a planning department housing consultant, said the Singh proposal meets federal, state and county standards for farm labor camps and signals a change in attitudes of growers, “some of whom deprive their farm workers of the basic human needs.”

Some growers, Kelley said, “do not think of their workers as human beings” or provide them with toilets, running water or shelter. She said the dormitories would displace a number of illegal camps now in the Bonsall area.

The Bonsall Sponsor Group, a county-recognized planning organization, endorsed the Singh labor camp, and several Bonsall residents spoke out against the tide of opposition to the proposal.

LoRee Palutzke, a Bonsall resident, noted that the farm laborers “are now living in ravines, in makeshift shelters with no sanitary facilities” and pose “a severe fire hazard” to the area because of the fires they build for cooking and warmth.

Itson said she expects opponents of the Singh labor camp to file an appeal with the county Board of Planning and Zoning Appeals.