Farmland vs. College

MiraCosta College is demanding that farmer Jesse Lux sacrifice his land and heritage to compensate for their inadequate planning (“Farmer Plows On in Defiance of College,” April 18). It seems the college, after the campus was built, had a revelation: their parcel would not support any growth. Gee, how far-sighted. And guess what? Lucky for the college there’s a farm next door. Oh, wouldn’t a parking lot look great there?

So now the college openly threatens legal action under the facade of “eminent domain” to get their way. Forget about those promises made to the community 10 years ago, the college admits they never said “never, never, ever”--so there.

MiraCosta suggests their parking lot would be better than houses. But what’s the difference? The farm would be gone. Being a newcomer to the area, MiraCosta may not realize that Mr. Lux’s farm is part of what makes Encinitas unique--not them. From their disjointed shoe boxes they call a campus to blatant disregard for a fading way of life, MiraCosta is showing its lack of judgment and questionable benefit to this community.

I’m all for education, but not greed. In this case the college is wrong. The college alone is responsible for their directors’ ineptitude, so it is perhaps MiraCosta that look for a new location and not Mr. Lux.

DENNIS LYNCH

Encinitas