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Regional Agency for Park Is Backed : Supervisors Support Proposal for San Dieguito River Valley

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Times Staff Writer

With no fanfare but a bit of cheerleading, San Diego County supervisors Tuesday added their crucial endorsement to the formal establishment of an independent government agency to oversee development of the region’s largest and most ambitious open-space and park undertaking.

By a unanimous vote, the supervisors agreed to join the cities of San Diego, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Escondido and Poway in the formation of a joint powers authority to develop and manage the proposed San Dieguito River Valley Regional Park.

The park would cross each of the six jurisdictions, as well as federal land, as it stretches 43 miles from the Pacific Ocean at Del Mar up the San Dieguito River to Lake Hodges and eastward into the Cleveland National Forest and the foothills of Julian.

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Supporters of the ambitious undertaking say the park, which would feature hiking and riding trails, active recreation opportunities and interpretive history and nature centers, would serve as a wildlife preserve and greenbelt along a premier swath of North County real estate that might otherwise succumb to extreme commercial and residential development pressures.

Need for Agency Cited

The park planning has so far been done independently by the various jurisdictions--primarily the city and county of San Diego as the two major players--under the umbrella of the San Diego Assn. of Governments.

But representatives of the agencies have said an autonomous government agency will eventually be needed to coordinate the planning, financing, development and management of the park, and decided that the six-agency JPA would be the best bureaucratic tool to accomplish that.

The San Diego City Council’s Rules Committee is expected to discuss its participation in the JPA when it meets today. The council’s Transportation and Land-Use Committee previously endorsed the city’s participation in the JPA.

The cities of Poway, Del Mar and Solana Beach already have voted to join the JPA, and Escondido is expected to follow suit later this month.

“The ability to bring this many jurisdictions together on a project like this has never been done before,” said Supervisors Chairman Susan Golding on Tuesday in urging the board to support the JPA.

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“This is proof that jurisdictions will give up control to a larger body when the greater good is at stake,” she said. “Both the city and county have land-use (control over the park boundaries), but we’re willing to join with other cities which, for the most part, have limited or no land-use authority, in order to work together on a regional project that will benefit the entire community.”

Ultimate goal of the JPA is the acquisition of as much as possible of the 5,400 acres in private ownership--property that is primarily situated west of Lake Hodges as the river winds through the unincorporated Santa Fe Valley, Rancho Santa Fe, Fairbanks Ranch, San Diego’s North City and Del Mar.

Hunt for Funding Sources

County land appraisers are attempting to figure the value of some of the parcels so officials can establish priorities about which tracts should be purchased first, and at what price. Early estimates put the price tag of the private land coveted for the park at $177 million.

Most of the land east of Lake Hodges already is in public ownership.

Among the first tasks of the joint powers authority is to continue the hunt for funding sources. So far, only $10 million is available, the result of a previously approved state-parks and open-space bond issue that earmarked funds for the San Dieguito River Valley park, which was first proposed four years ago.

Meanwhile, a consultant hired initially by the City of San Diego and later by the other partners in the project is developing a park development concept that will identify, for instance, which areas would be best left untouched and which developed for active uses.

The county and San Diego would each be given two votes on the JPA--the same weight the two now have on the Sandag committee which has been overseeing the park’s development. The four smaller cities would each be given one representative on the committee, as will a citizens advisory committee whose members include representatives of scores of environmental organizations and property owners.

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Still to be determined is how much money each of the JPA members will pay toward the park project out of their own coffers; so far, the city and county of San Diego have paid the most of the costs. Officials hope that private donations and public grants will cover the cost of the park, along with revenue the county receives from its share of off-track betting at the Del Mar Race Track.

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