Joint-Powers Board Proposed to Guide Formation of San Dieguito Park

The years-long process of developing a 43-mile-long regional park and greenbelt to stretch from Del Mar to the foothills of Julian took another step forward Friday with the proposal that it be planned and acquired under the auspices of a public, joint-powers authority.

The park agency would be governed by two City Council members from San Diego and one each from the Del Mar, Solana Beach, Escondido and Poway city councils, as well as two members of the county Board of Supervisors and a representative of an already existing citizens’ advisory committee.

But officials said they would wait until the joint-powers authority is formed before deciding whether to hire an executive director to oversee the mammoth project. Also unresolved is what agency will actually improve, manage and maintain the so-called San Dieguito River Valley Regional Park.

Friday’s recommendations were made unanimously by a park planning committee coordinated by the San Diego Assn. of Governments (Sandag), with the same composition that would make up the joint-powers authority. The proposals will now be taken back to the committee members’ agencies for concurrence, a prerequisite to establishing the authority.

The committee members also agreed to ask their colleagues to formally designate the proposed park as “open space” or “regional park” on their respective general plans in an effort to slow residential and commercial development in the region they want now to preserve for public use.

“We’re at the point where we must move forward, and this is a first step,” said Supervisor John MacDonald.

The legal ramifications of that request, which in some cases would require rezoning of areas already zoned for development, were not discussed at Friday’s Sandag meeting and will likely spark debate when the issue is brought up by the various local governing boards.

Also still unclear is how park acquisition and development will be financed, although county Supervisor Susan Golding reiterated her proposal, which she aired in her state-of-the-county address earlier this month, of putting a park bond issue on the county ballot in 1990.

Such a bond issue, which would require a two-thirds approval by voters, could raise tens of millions of dollars for park development and would be a potent shot in the arm for the regional park, which now has only $10 million in state funds available.

The cost of the joint-powers authority itself, including the possible hiring of its own staff, might be covered by the county’s proceeds from satellite wagering at Del Mar Race Track, Golding and MacDonald said.

One of the more politically curious discussions Friday centered on whether the joint-powers authority should be headed by two co-chairmen or by a chairman and a vice chairman.

Both Golding and San Diego City Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer have long promoted the park and the two women alternately chair the Sandag meetings, eliminating the possibility of one or the other having more clout.

Wolfsheimer suggested Friday that the joint-powers authority be co-chaired by representatives of both the city and county of San Diego, as a display of cooperation between the two most powerful governing bodies working on the park proposal.

But MacDonald argued that the governing board should only have one leader.

Golding said she agreed--and didn’t care whether it was a county or city representative. Most of the others on the committee, including San Diego City Councilman Ron Roberts, agreed. When discussion moved around the table and returned to Wolfsheimer, she deferred. The question of who will chair the joint-powers authority will not be resolved, however, until it is formed.

The proposed park would follow the San Dieguito River from its mouth at Del Mar, through Fairbanks Ranch and Rancho Santa Fe to Lake Hodges. It would travel east through the San Pasqual Valley and to the north side of Ramona, through the Pamo Valley, to the Sutherland Reservoir, and finally to the slopes of the Volcan Mountains near Julian.

Most of the property east of Lake Hodges already is publicly owned, but most of the land west of Lake Hodges is in private ownership. The Sandag committee is looking for money to begin acquiring parcels.

Specific park plans have yet to be developed, but generally call for hiking and equestrian trails, nature centers and the preservation of historical sites and wildlife habitats.