Wildfires are becoming more frequent, more widespread, and more intense across California. In San Diego County, we have a heightened risk of wildfire because of year-round high temperatures and the forests, canyons, and chaparral that dominate our landscapes. We must adapt to increased wildfire risk by adhering to the highest safety standards in our land use planning.
The Harmony Grove Village South housing development proposed in Harmony Grove adjacent to Elfin Forest would be a fire trap for new and surrounding residents and would set a bad precedent for San Diego communities. Our leaders in the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District and on the County Board of Supervisors have a responsibility to North County residents, current and future, to re-evaluate this proposed project.
One Way Out
The 452-home project is proposed on a dead-end road surrounded by thousands of acres of conserved open space and flammable brush. As the developers were not able to provide a secondary egress (evacuation route), the project requested – and received – a waiver of state fire code standards that require secondary egress on dead-end road projects.
The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District has at least six large housing developments in its jurisdiction and every one of them has a minimum of three ways out in the case of wildfire. Harmony Grove Village South would be the only project with only one means of evacuating, despite being larger than all but one of the other developments in the District. The developer is claiming that, in a pinch, a system of crude, unmaintained trails on steep chaparral-covered slopes might serve as a way out for entrapped residents. It is disingenuous to claim passenger vehicles could navigate these trails to escape a wildfire.
Regional Disasters
In addition, this development was proposed before new fire guidelines were issued by the state in 2022. The new fire guidelines were created to, among other things, inform policy makers on where and how new housing developments should or should not be built in the wildland-urban interface. Several independent fire experts have issued reports and stated that this is a disaster waiting to happen due to inadequate evacuation infrastructure. Despite the clear current known fire risk of the proposed development, no additional safety analysis or evacuation measures are required. That’s a big problem for the new residents of the proposed Harmony Grove Village South development, and their neighbors.
Regardless of which regulations apply, common sense tells us that high fire-risk zones should have at least two evacuation routes to ensure everyone can get out safely when wildfire strikes. This site is right next to the land burned by the Cocos Fire, which destroyed 30 homes. We all remember the horror of people trapped in their cars while trying to escape the Camp Fire in Paradise that killed 85 people. We do not want to invite that kind of disaster into our region with poor land use planning.
Not Too Late
That’s why we need the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District to call for more time to conduct a thorough, thoughtful fire-risk analysis of the project based on current fire protection guidelines. How does the project stack up to revised state fire regulations? How will people safely escape in case of a wildfire? Will neighbors who do not live in the new development also be at risk from congested evacuation routes because of poor planning? We have a right to know the answers to these questions. No ground has been broken; nothing has been approved. It’s not too late to make a better plan.
Beyond the fire risk, this area has an unusually high level of biodiversity. The community has already made a big investment in conserving much of the land near this property, which sits within the Escondido Creek watershed. Rancho Santa Fe is also situated in this watershed; local residents benefit from the watershed’s open space, educational and recreation opportunities. The project would chop up important wildlife habitat, disrupt a wildlife corridor, and threaten the pristine nature of the creek, ultimately undermining the large amount of work that has already been done to protect wildlife habitat and open space in North County.
Resident Weigh-In
Last, a new housing development in this location means more “roofs” (houses) in the fire district, which would result in an increase in the fire department’s budget. In other words, there is an incentive by the fire district to approve this development to fill out their budget. Everyone supports funding fire protection, but approving a large housing development in a CalFire designated “very high fire severity zone” is not the way to go about ensuring the fire district has the resources it needs to keep people and property safe. It is not a reasonable approach when homes and lives are at stake.
The County has reopened the environmental review process again for this project, so residents now have a chance to weigh in on the project during the public comment period. Escondido, Rancho Santa Fe, Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove, Vista, San Marcos, and other area residents should submit comments before the 4 pm October 7 deadline.
(https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/pds/Current_Projects/hgvs.html)
Please, Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District and San Diego County Supervisors: Do the right thing and re-evaluate this proposal.
Douglas Dill is a 30-year resident of Elfin Forest, Chair of the San Dieguito Community Planning Group, board member of the Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove Town Council and 2024 Candidate for the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District Board.