Countywide : Developer Goes Back to First Plan

Faced with stiff opposition from residents and environmentalists, county supervisors voted last week to overrule the Planning Commission and send a revised South County development plan back for further review.

Construction of 20 homes in the area near Modjeska Canyon will be allowed to proceed, but an amended plan submitted by the applicant, Khalil Zadeh, cannot be undertaken without a new environmental impact report, the board concluded. Zadeh said he cannot afford the time to complete such a report and therefore plans to begin work on his approved project.

Under Zadeh’s proposed amendment, the new project would have put 22 homes on about 46 acres. Unless he waits for the revised environmental review, however, Zadeh will be limited to building 20 homes on 42.5 acres.

“You cannot imagine what these people have put me through,” Zadeh said, pointing to the residents and environmentalists opposed to the amended project. “I have a right to develop this property.”

The project drew stiff opposition from environmentalists, including the Rural Canyons Conservation Fund, which appealed the Planning Commission’s approval of the 22-home proposal. The commission had voted to let the project proceed without a new environmental impact report.

One resident, Dianne Carter, said she feared development of the project would cut off an important wildlife corridor would hurt the area’s deer population. Other residents raised concerns about traffic, and Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez agreed that the project deserved an environmental review before proceeding.