|
Residents work with Supervisor
to revitalize Alpine
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — At a meeting held recently in
Alpine, local residents joined with county staff to continue
work on revitalizing Alpine. The group is part of Second
District Supervisor Dianne Jacob’s Alpine Revitalization
Steering Committee, which meets a couple times each year to talk
about progress on planned community projects and efforts.
Projects and plans for this effort have been brought
forward through several revitalization workshops held in Alpine
over the past couple of years, which have identified certain
needs and wants in the community.
“Alpine has been the most visionary of the communities
in my district,” Jacob said regarding the revitalization
process. Local residents, along with county staff, have been
integrating issues in local planning, and progress has been
made.
“What’s difficult about the implementation of visions
is that it takes time,” she said.
Some of the revitalization projects include local
transportation and roads, local parkland and community
activities, as well as community safety and even a revamped
downtown core. Many projects have seen progress in the past year
and others have been completed entirely. But the process
continues to be fluid, with new projects and plans being added
to the community revitalization matrix.
One item which has seen great progress is the effort to
establish local disaster plans for Alpine. The Alpine Public
Safety Committee/Greater Alpine Fire Safe Council (GAFSC) has
updated Alpine’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).
GAFSC is the first fire safe council to update a CWPP, and is
being used as a model throughout the state. The Alpine Planning
Group has also updated its Evacuation/Protection Plan (EPP).
The GAFSC has used the CWPP to prioritize fuel
reduction projects in Alpine for grant proposal, and has
received preliminary approval for the first two projects to be
funded through the California Fire Safe Council.
The Carveacre Fire Safe Council has finished its fuel
break work and continues its proactive safety events, and the
Ranches of Palo Verde Fire Safe Council has completed two thirds
of its project to create a 200-foot buffer between the homes of
the ranches and the continuous fuel bed to the southeast of
Alpine. This buffer would potentially be used by fire
professionals as an anchor point defending Alpine from a
prevailing wind-driven fire.
GAFSC has been promised funds for 2007/2008 for work on
fire protection zones identified in the integrated CWPP to the
east of central Alpine. Biological and archaeological studies
are complete and work is expected to start later this year.
GAFSC also recently carried out chipper days in five Alpine
neighborhoods: Japatul Valley, Harbison Canyon, Palo Verde
Ranch, Rancho Palo Verde. Three more neighborhoods are targeted
for 2007: Anderson Truck Trail, East Alpine at Willows Road
(south of I-8) and Alpine Heights.
Another key emergency issue is traffic and circulation
in Alpine during a potential disaster. A value analysis will be
prepared to review freeway access to Alpine, which could call
for an additional off-ramp between Tavern and West Willows. This
will be a collaborative effort between Viejas, the county
Department of Public Works, CalTrans and the community.
Other transportation issues include road improvements
on Willows Road, due to several accidents. The Kumeyaay tribe is
working on improving markings and signage on the casino access
road (stop where previously had been yield).
Other transportation issues include the determination
of a center line on Alpine Boulevard. According to community
development chairman Joe Forlenza, this long awaited decision
has finally been made. This will allow businesses along the
boulevard to continue with possible projects, knowing exactly
where their property ends and the county easement begins.
To improve Alpine’s downtown core and create a more
walk-able community, committee members have discussed possible
changing the parking along Alpine Boulevard east of the West
Victoria Drive. Parking would need to be moved to the read of
buildings, with the front comprising of trees, sidewalks and
storefronts. The group hopes to incorporate a town core area,
where residents could gather for community events.
Local active parklands continue to be a hot issue in
Alpine at various venues. After the endorsement of the APG to go
ahead with three local sites, the county is searching for $10-20
thousand to conduct these studies.
One potential site, the Lazy A Ranch, located east of
South Grade Road, may not be available because it’s under
consideration for a potential high school site. A second site,
the former chicken ranch adjacent to Shadow Hills Elementary,
may also be off the table, as the property owners have put it
back on the market.
Jacob offered to find $5,000 to assist with the studies
on the chicken ranch site, but also said that she will not
support environmental work on a third site, Wright’s Field,
because it has been surveyed by county staff and found to be not
feasible for an active park.
These are just a very few of the many efforts being
undertaken by the Alpine Revitalization Steering Committee, and
more community input is needed and wanted to integrate residents
into the process.
Jacob made a call to refresh the revitalization group,
who are not elected or exclusive, but rather volunteer
themselves to work towards these community goals. She encouraged
aggressive outreach to Alpine community leaders to let everyone
know about the process and invite input from all Alpine groups.
“People need to act if they want something done,” she
said.
Thank you to Wende Cornelius
for providing much of the information for this story.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
|
