2,900 Acres Switched From Agricultural : Major North County Zoning Change Approved

County supervisors, ignoring warnings of environmental and planning group spokesmen that their action would cause voters to question their motives, approved a zoning change for a 2,900-acre parcel of North County agricultural land to allow for urban uses.

The property, part of the 4-S Ranch west of Rancho Bernardo and Interstate 15, was switched from agricultural zoning to a specific plan designation, considered the first step toward development.

The rezoning had been started in February, said Allen Haynie, attorney for the Ralphs family. He called it “unfortunate” that the final consideration occurred a week before the election.

He said the zoning change would not increase density within the project nor would the growth measures have an effect on it.

Supervisor John MacDonald, the lone vote against the rezoning, told fellow supervisors that their action approving the massive rezoning might be entirely proper but might also be construed by voters in the Tuesday election as a way to exempt the undeveloped property from Propositions B and D on the ballot. The two measures are designed to control growth and protect sensitive lands.

“We are dealing here not only with facts, but also with perceptions,” MacDonald said. “It seems to me that, if we were really convinced that there would not be any effect on the land from the election next Tuesday, we would continue this action until next Wednesday.

“By acting now, we are risking, or eroding further, the opportunity for Proposition B to be successful.”

Proposition B, the sensitive lands initiative placed on the ballot by the Board of Supervisors, is opposed by developers, who consider it too stringent, and by slow-growth groups, who back Proposition D, the Rural Preservation and Traffic Control Initiative, which they say eliminates the loopholes contained in the county board’s measure.

Emily Durbin, a Sierra Club spokeswoman who supports the board-backed Proposition B, protested that she felt she was being “sandbagged” by the board’s approval of the 4-S Ranch rezoning because “it is clear to us that the rezone is being sought only to avoid the impact of both initiatives” on next week’s ballot.

Durbin urged that the board delay or turn down the 4-S Ranch request, at least until an environmental impact report is done on the property. To approve the rezoning, she said, is “going to tarnish further the concept of voters that they cannot trust their county officials when it comes to protection of the environment.”

Supervisor Susan Golding, who argued for the rezoning, assured Durbin and other opponents that there would be no immediate development as a result of the board’s approval.

The 2,900-acre parcel is in a state agricultural preserve that will not expire until 1992, Golding said. No development can take place upon the property until the preserve status expires, she explained.

Tom Ralphs, spokesman for the Ralphs family, which owns the property and an adjoining 640-acre parcel now under development, said that there is no intent by the family to circumvent the growth initiatives.

Al Frowiss, speaking for the San Dieguito Planning Group, said the group was unanimously opposed to the zoning change without an environmental review and criticized the county planning staff for recommending the change when, during a comprehensive update of the San Dieguito area land-use plan two years ago, the proposed 4-S Ranch rezoning was never proposed or considered.

“There was never any discussion during the update that the (4-S Ranch) property was out of sync with the general plan,” Frowiss said. “Why now? Why not wait until the next general plan update? The press and the public will be looking very closely at your action.”

The property lies south of Lake Hodges and west of the Rancho Bernardo industrial park. On three sides it touches the city limits of San Diego. It extends south into the city’s urban reserve area, which is protected from development until after 1995 unless a project is approved by a majority of city voters.