Rancho Santa Fe Takes 1st Step : LAFCO Approval Extends Limits for Incorporation

RANCHO SANTA FE —  The campaign for cityhood in this scenic estate community crept closer to victory Wednesday night, when the Local Agency Formation Commission approved Rancho Santa Fe’s bid to incorporate.

After a standing-room-only hearing beneath the gleaming golden chandeliers of the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club, the commission voted, 5-3, to clear the home rule proposal for a test at the polls next year.

Wednesday’s vote capped months of effort by advocates of local government here. But some incorporation supporters viewed the approval as a mixed victory because LAFCO adopted a wider city boundary than that favored by many local residents.

The proposal approved by the commission encompassed roughly two square miles more than civic leaders originally wanted within the new municipality’s boundaries, as well as a buffer of land around Rancho Santa Fe that is targeted for eventual annexation.

One resident active in the cityhood movement, James Berry, predicted that such a boundary would doom incorporation at the polls, making the effort “a futile exercise and a waste of everybody’s time.”

Also disappointed were residents of Whispering Palms, who turned out in force and donned bright yellow badges in an effort to persuade commissioners that their community should be made part of the new city.

Whispering Palms and Fairbanks Ranch were, however, placed in the proposed city’s sphere of influence, meaning they may one day be annexed by Rancho Santa Fe.

Proponents of incorporation believe that local government is the best weapon Rancho Santa Fe can wield in its battle to fight off encroaching high-density development and protect the character of its peaceful residential neighborhoods.

In addition, cityhood supporters argue that home rule would enable the Ranch to improve traffic enforcement, strengthen the Sheriff’s Department’s protection and enhance the provision of other public services. Many incorporation proponents also say that cityhood may be the only way to block county plans to widen several roadways through the heart of the quaint village, a cluster of small shops and restaurants under a canopy of eucalyptus trees.

If voters approve cityhood at the polls in June, Rancho Santa Fe would be the county’s 19th city, and its smallest with just under 5,000 residents. It also would be the third city to incorporate in the booming North County in a year’s time. Solana Beach and Encinitas--a union of the communities of Encinitas, Leucadia, Olivenhain and Cardiff--each incorporated with overwhelming voter support in June.

Promoters of incorporation here have worked long and hard toward their goal; discussions on the town’s potential as a self-sufficient municipality date to April, 1985.

A year ago, a consultant’s report on the fiscal feasibility of cityhood was commissioned, and a special task force called SCOHR (Study Committee on Home Rule) was formed in March to win support for local government among residents.

Persuading the populace of the merits of incorporation has been no easy task. For one thing, the financial viability of the proposed city has been in doubt.

Although dominated by million-dollar estates, the community generates little sales tax revenue, and LAFCO analysts at one point suggested that the town might not have the economic wherewithal to support home rule. Such statements made many residents wonder if it was worth the risk.

A recently passed state law increased the portion of state taxes on cigarettes, motor vehicles and gasoline that Rancho Santa Fe would receive if it incorporates, improving the long-range financial picture significantly.

Then last month, LAFCO staff members announced that the proposed city could, indeed, afford to incorporate and would realize a budget surplus of $176,114--a 12% surplus of revenues over expenditures--after its first full year of operation in 1988-89.

Economics aside, however, many homeowners remain concerned that cityhood might threaten the town’s protective covenant, a strict set of rules adopted in 1927 to maintain the town’s exclusive ambiance and visual appeal.

The covenant, which at one time included racial residential restrictions, is administered by the Rancho Santa Fe Assn., a quasi-homeowners group that has a $1-million annual budget and provides a security force and assorted other public services. Members of the covenant pay fees entitling them to the services and to privileges like belonging to the golf and tennis clubs.

Some homeowners fear that cityhood would require the extension of covenant privileges to hundreds of new residents, which would strain recreational facilities. Or, if covenant privileges were not offered to all city dwellers, it could create a two-tiered society and generate friction within the community.

To combat that uneasiness and avoid any possible conflicts among city residents, leaders of the home rule movement initially proposed a narrow city boundary that encompasses only the 9.6 square miles of territory covered by the covenant.

“We viewed the covenant boundary as the easiest one to sell and felt it was the most natural in terms of geography” and community identity, said Don Frick, a spokesman for SCOHR.

But LAFCO analysts, in a report to their commissioners, took a different position. They recommended approval of a larger city that would encompass 12 square miles, plus a sphere of influence extending an additional 4.5 square miles. A city’s sphere of influence is area that may logically be annexed in the future.

LAFCO staff members said the wider boundary makes sense because it will not leave “pockets” of unincorporated county territory and will permit Rancho Santa Fe to control land-use on its borders.

In addition, the communities recommended for inclusion in the new city--Rancho del Lago, Hacienda Santa Fe, Canyon Creek and South Pointe Farms--are linked both socially and economically with Rancho Santa Fe, LAFCO analysts argued.

SCOHR officials reacted with disappointment to the LAFCO staff recommendation and expressed fears that a city with such boundaries would win little support at the polls.

But before Wednesday’s hearing, SCOHR modified its proposal in an effort to win a favorable compromise from LAFCO. The proponents agreed to expand the proposed city boundary by more than two square miles to encompass much of the territory LAFCO favored for inclusion in the municipality.

However, the proponents maintained their opposition to LAFCO’s proposed 4.5-square-mile sphere of influence for the city, recommending instead that no land beyond the Rancho Santa Fe city limits be targeted for future annexation.

LAFCO’s proposed boundaries also drew criticism from residents of Whispering Palms, a community of homes situated around a golf course off Via de la Valle that had hoped to be included within the City of Rancho Santa Fe. When they learned that they had been left out of the proposed city, homeowners in Whispering Palms launched an 11th-hour lobbying effort in hopes of persuading LAFCO commissioners to alter the boundary.

Other neighborhoods on the borders of Rancho Santa Fe also clamored for admission to the new city, arguing that they relate more closely in architecture and character to the estate community than to other neighboring cities, which might annex them in the future.

The county Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing early next year on the incorporation proposal. Supervisors are required to approve the application and call an election unless 50% of the residents in the affected area submit written protests.

Members of LAFCO’s eight-member board are Chairman Mike Gotch, councilman from the City of San Diego; Fred Nagel, mayor of La Mesa; Supervisors Brian Bilbray and Paul Eckert, representing the county; Marge Hersom from the Alpine Fire Protection District; Stanley Mahr from the San Marcos County Water District, and Charles Hostler, appointed from the public at large. R.H. Dorman, mayor of Coronado, is serving as an alternate until the eighth seat is filled.