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Children’s Village EIR ready for public comment
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
CAMPO — The public review period has begun for a proposed 118-acre project in the Campo area. The 45-day public comment phase of the environmental impact report for “A Children’s Village,” will run through June 5.
The new development proposed by Father Joe's Villages, is being planned for the old Flying A ranch in Campo. The project would span 118 acres between Buckman Springs Road and Lake Morena. The proposed development would include 25 homes, an on-site school, medical clinic, interfaith chapel and sports facilities.
The St. Vincent de Paul project has been in the works for many years, with several iterations of a draft EIR presented to the county and the community over that period. Last October, the county requested additional information from developers, and revisions to make the documents in their draft EIR and technical studies adequate and ready for review.
Another letter, dated Jan. 31 of this year, from the county Department of Planning and Land Use to SVDP, states that a review of the project’s third screen check draft EIR and technical studies, have determined the documents not to be adequate pursuant to CEQA and the county’s EIR format and general content requirements.
Since that time, project planners have addressed the concerns raised by the county, and the public comments on the EIR are due before 4 p.m., June 5. The Campo/Lake Morena Planning Group will review the EIR at its next meeting, May 22, and will take a vote at that time.
The facility would be a year-round home for children who have been separated from their families. The foster care ranch is billed as a stable home where children will be offered the skills to become productive members of society.
Up to 200 homeless and foster care children would be housed on-site with 50 live-in house parents. There would be a school on-site, though students could attend other local schools if they choose, according to SVDP planners.
Some of the major concerns already raised by community members in the past are the effects on groundwater from the development. At a meeting late last year, project officials tried to address some of those concerns at the planning group meeting.
“We know the effects of a project like this on adjoining properties’ groundwater can be potentially astronomical,” said project representative Brian Mooney. “That’s why we’re here and that’s why we’re doing all these studies.”
“It’s a very arduous process that we’re going through,” Mooney said. “We’ve gone beyond anything that the county requires.”
With Mooney was project hydro-geologist Matt Wiedlin, who explained some of the water studies that the developers were undertaking.
Wiedlin said he studied eight 100-foot-deep wells on 1,200 acres of surrounding land to see what effects the project would have on local groundwater. He pump tested for eight months, and used historical data from local sources and county statistics to formulate projections. Some of the data he got from local sources, some going back to the 1920s.
“We’ve taken these measurements in many different ways, under many different standards,” Wiedlin said.
Wiedlin said he modeled the acre-foot water usage twice, based on an 18- and a 21-inch yearly rainfall. In both cases, he said, the studies showed the project would not significantly deplete groundwater levels.
Specific concerns identified in the draft EIR are significant environmental impacts to biological resources, cultural resources, groundwater, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, and noise.
The draft EIR and maps for the proposed facility may be reviewed
online,
or at the Department of Planning and Land Use (DPLU), Project Processing Counter, 5201 Ruffin Road, Suite B in San Diego; and at the Campo–Lake Morena Library, located at 31356 Highway 94, Campo.
Comments must be sent to the DPLU address listed in the document and should reference the project numbers and name (P04-036, LOG NO. 04-20-002, SCH. NO. 2004091132; A CHILDREN’S VILLAGE).
Comments must be received no later than June 5, 2006 at 4 p.m. For more information, one may contact Kristin Blackson at (858) 694-3012 or by e-mail at kristin.blackson@sdcounty.ca.gov.
Bike race moved
At the Monday meeting of the planning group, transportation committee liaison Bob Shea announced that plans for a yearly bicycle race on area roads have changed.
At the March planning group meeting, representatives from the San Diego Omnium bike race, held by Cycle-Vets, addressed concerns from the community. These revolved mainly around the monopolizing of local roads by the racers. Over the past eight years, residents have been growing increasingly concerned and angry about the race, which spans two days in Campo and clogs up Buckman Springs Road and La Posta Road.
At the groups’s March meeting, race director Adrienne Bryan attended, and said that her goal is to work with residents to create a better and safer event in the future.
“Blocking one of our roads is an inconvenience,” said planning group member Joe Carmody. “Blocking two of our roads is much more than just an inconvenience.”
Concerns raised by residents include clumping of cyclists during the race, blocking lanes along BSR, and forcing residents to either crawl at a snail’s pace behind groups or try to pass on the two-lane road.
“There’s a lot of emotion about this issue,” said Chairwoman Bev Esry. “I’ve been run off the road during one of these races. That’s why I’m fighting tooth and nail for this. My real concern is that one of these times someone is going to die.”
At that meeting, Bryan said that the club would look into moving the race course to the east to avoid clogging Campo’s main roads.
At a local business association meeting held this month, Bryan announced that the club had moved the race to avoid Buckman Springs Road, due to the concerns raised by residents.
Instead of a route that travels along La Posta Road and Buckman Springs Road, the new route will move to the east and loop around La Posta and Tierra Del Sol.
The event will be held Friday and Saturday, June 23 and 24.
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Christy Scott
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