 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
California Riding Magazine • May, 2010 Code Red! by Stephen Garafolo |
Seven years ago, Tapestry Meadows Equestrian Center (TMEC) opened its doors for business. Six months later, following the departure of a disgruntled business associate, TMEC was visited by Code Enforcement. Like most rural properties in San Diego County, this 10-acre property in Valley Center is zoned A70-L, which allows 14 cows, six sheep or hogs, goats, llamas, emus, ostriches or alpacas, 25 peacocks, 25 chickens and roosters, dogs, cats and an unlimited number of horses and donkeys. The property is also zoned for a large or small animal clinic or veterinary hospital. The environmental impacts (noise, odors, air quality, traffic, etc.) of these allowed uses that do not require a permit would be far greater than the impacts of a private facility with 25-boarded horses, for which the county requires a Major Use Permit (MUP). With only two boarded horses in September 2003, the owners were prepared to close the business, but Code Enforcement convinced them to continue operating their boarding business while simultaneously processing their Major Use Permit. The County’s DPLU (Department of Planning & Land Use) told the owners that their property was in an excellent location for a boarding stable, and that the MUP fees would be less than $9,000. However, the owners soon learned that this is only a small fraction of the total costs involved. Four years later due to changes in Traffic Impact Fee rules, Stormwater Management rules, the fire code (which now requires onsite and offsite paving of horse ranches), and additional requirements added to the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) studies, the owners have spent $100,000 and are only one third of the way through the MUP process. The CEQA studies cost an average of $10,000 each, and include Traffic, Fire Planning, Air Quality, Noise, Manure & Stormwater Management, Landscape, Vector Control, Agriculture, Biology, Archeology, and Environmental Site Assessment. There are grading plans, site plans, project descriptions, septic system expansion design plans, land surveys, drainage studies, aerials, elevations, and topographical studies (all of this just to board one horse). In 2008, at the owners’ request, county staff visited the TMEC property. During the tour, the DPLU planner waived the Visual Analysis Study and led the owners to believe they would soon be granted their permit. However, seven months later, the County increased their fee estimate by 400 percent with no cap and no guarantee. Read the full story at www.tapestrymeadows.com. While the TMEC owners struggled through years of the arduous MUP process, a 20-acre nearby commercial orange grove was replaced with a plant nursery without any requirement for a permit or an Agricultural Impact Study. Exempt from CEQA, the plant nursery owner is not required to complete a Noise Study (although the noise from the nursery all hours of the day and night is equivalent to an airport), nor a Traffic Study (although the heavy nursery trucks damage the roads and create other traffic impacts), nor an Air Quality Study (although the nursery fills the air with diesel fumes, dust, compost odors, pesticides and fungicides). This illustrates how the Zoning Ordinance is slanted against horses. The fault lies with the equestrian community for failing to be involved politically. Equestrians need a political voice like the Farm Bureau. Several years ago at a hearing for a horse barn permit, the Planning Commissioner stated, “We have not heard from the horse community since the 1960s. We need you to form a group and have two or three representatives tell us what you want.” The Valley Center Planning Group appointed an Equine Subcommittee to improve the equine zoning laws throughout San Diego County. The public is encouraged to attend these meetings on the first Wednesday of each month, 6-8 p.m. at the Valley Center Library. See www.equinezoning.com. They hope to obtain 10,000 signatures from residents of San Diego County on their petition
for a new equine ordinance with reasonable Be sure to stop by the Creekside Veterinary Services booth that will be shared with the Equine Subcommittee at the Valley Center Rodeo & Western Days, May 28-30. See www.vcchamber.com/westerndays2010.html for the VC Western Days & Rodeo details.
Author Stephen Garofolo was the maintenance supervisor at Tapestry Meadows throughout the permitting challenges he describes. |
