Merriam Mountains: ‘Antithesis of smart growth’
“Merriam Mountains is the antithesis of smart growth,” says Margaret McCown Liles, former EDC president and a resident of nearby Hidden Meadows, located north of Escondido.
Liles encouraged members of EDC and all Escondido area residents to oppose Merriam Mountains when it comes up before the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for a possible approval vote on Wednesday, March 24, 2010.
In a presentation to the Club’s March 13 meeting, Liles outlined arguments against the proposed development, which would take 2,327 acres of undeveloped and hilly land and add 2,700 dwelling units with approximately 7,600 residents. Under the County’s general plan, the land is currently approved for 345 homes, she noted. A revised general plan, now under consideration, would reduce that number to 64. Thus the proposal would place more than seven times as many homes on the land as are permitted under the current plan, she said.
(View Liles’ presentation slides by clicking HERE.)
Liles reviewed the arguments against approval of the project:
Compounds Traffic Congestion: The development will bring 7,600 new residents and create more than 35,000 daily trips on area roads already considered overloaded. The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) has no plans for improvements in the development area. The developer has promised to widen Deer Springs Road, but Liles told the audience “as soon as you widen it, people who would not have taken it before will start using it and it will quickly be beyond capacity,” so there is no gain. On and off-ramps at I-15 and Deer Springs Road will be overtaxed and CalTrans will be the agency that will decide when to improve them.
Compromises Fire Safety: Liles said three candidates for Deer Springs Fire Protection District (DSFPD) Board ran against approving the development and “won handily” in 2006. The District has recommended against approving the development “many times,” she added. In a November, 2009 communication from the DSFPD to the County Department of Planning and Land Use, the Board noted:
“An overview of effective evacuation requirements of the Merriam Mountain project appearing in a
November 2,2006 North County Times article by evacuation expert Thomas J. Cova that stated:
‘(1) All high-fire-hazard areas should have a maximum evacuation time of 30 minutes;
(2) Given the extreme housing density, limited roads, and steep slope, it would require a minimum of 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours to evacuate the Merriam Mountain project;
(3) Given the above, the size of the Merriam Mountain project should be limited to 320 housing units (800 vehicles) in order to have a chance for a successful evacuation.’ “
Overcrowds Local Schools: Liles noted that no new school will be built as part of the development. The children among the 7,600 residents will be split among five different school districts. “What kind of community is that?” she asked. She also mentioned that none of the districts provide bus transportation for students, increasing traffic congestion.
Exhausts Water Resources: In a time of scarce water, the proposed development would bring 7,600 new residents into the area with a projected need of 1.3 million gallons of water each day. “Farmers are having to remove trees because there isn’t enough water,” she noted. “How is this making sense?”
Liles urged EDC members and others opposed to the project to:
- Attend the Board of Supervisors meeting on March 24 (there will be free transportation)
- Write the State Attorney General to ask that they ensure a safe project
- Write letters to the editors of local newspapers
- Write the Supervisors
- Ask friends and colleagues to do all of the above.
Liles said more information is available at www.goodplanningnow.com