A new fitness center and spa, expanded parking at the Golf and Tennis Clubs and a beautified center median in the Village could all be in Rancho Santa Fe’s future, according to plans discussed at the RSFA Board’s annual Strategic Planning meeting August 13, at Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa.
Each year, Association Board directors and staff gather at the resort to look beyond the day-to-day business of running the Covenant and lay out priorities for the years ahead.
This year’s discussion covered everything from new amenities and infrastructure to wildfire preparedness, trails, legislation, member communication and the looming question behind nearly every wish list: how to pay for it.
About seven members attended the off-site open meeting, including one who brought comments from several neighbors who couldn’t attend because the meeting was held during the workday.
Who’s at the Table?
That became a topic during Member Input. With about 3,500 voting members in the Covenant, seven people in the audience represented just 0.2 percent of the membership.
Lorraine Kent, a former RSFA Board director and member of the Osuna Ranch Committee, suggested bringing a broader cross-section of the community into strategic planning so the Association’s various committees and members have a voice in shaping common goals.
Many of the projects being discussed will directly affect the work of Association committees, she noted, whether Golf, Tennis, Trails, Osuna Ranch, Infrastructure or the Art Jury. Committee members, she suggested, should be invited into the process, with the meeting held at a more accessible time and location.
“I serve on the Community Services District board and the San Dieguito Planning Group. We are required to hold any public meetings within the boundaries for which we serve. I suggest for next year’s meeting, we hold our open meetings within the Covenant boundaries – maybe the Garden Club or Community Center,” Kent said.
Daniel Schrieber, a member of the Trails Committee, suggested holding the Strategic Planning meeting in the evening to make it possible for younger families and working residents to participate in what is considered one of the Association’s most important meetings.
He also brought comments from several neighbors who were unable to attend. Their input ranged from improving the dining experience at the Clubhouse restaurant, preserving dark skies, expanding programs and amenities for families with school-aged children and the declining enrollment at R. Roger Rowe School.
Schrieber said he and others are enthusuastic about the proposed Fitness Center at the Golf Course, but encouraged the Board to seek member input to help shape the facility’s size, location, programming, amenities, and membership structure.
“I think there is a lot of excitement about the Fitness Center and Spa, and a member survey alongside the feasibility study would be a great way to build on that enthusiasm. It would give the Board valuable insight into what members would use and value most and help shape a facility that best serves the diverse needs and wants of our community,” Schreiber said.
The timing was interesting. One of the Association’s five strategic priorities for the coming years is “Governance, Member Communications & Engagement,” including better communication and engagement with committees, the Art Jury and other community stakeholders.
Perhaps that means a more welcoming spirit for community input, including a little more flexibility around the three-minute rule and a chance for members to be heard while the Board is actually discussing the issues that affect them.
So, What’s Coming?
The Association divided its strategic initiatives into three buckets: “To Deliver,” “To Advance” and “To Position.” Translated from strategic-planning speak, that essentially means what is underway, what should be moved forward and what needs to be prepared for down the road.
Here are some of the projects and initiatives members are most likely to notice:
- Fitness Center and Spa: A feasibility study and preliminary designs are underway for a new fitness and wellness facility at the Recreation Campus.
- Golf and Tennis Parking: With Golf, Tennis and a potential new fitness and spa facility sharing the Recreation Campus, additional parking will be needed – and plans for expanding it are already underway.
- Village Median: Improvements and landscaping to beautify the center median through the Village are among the projects being advanced.
- Association Offices: Plans to expand and consolidate Association offices at the Avenida de Acacias office are already moving forward. Staff has begun discussions with the County about feasibility and modification of the existing Major Use Permit, with preliminary design and permitting targeted to begin in fall 2026 and completion currently envisioned for late 2028.
- Trails: Continued trail improvements, maintenance and longer-term planning.
- Osuna Ranch: Planning continues for the future of the historic Association-owned property and its facilities.
- Recreation Field: Improvements to the playground and other amenities at the Richardson recreation field on Ramblas de las Flores are being considered.
- Wildfire and Emergency Preparedness: The Association plans continued Firewise work, emergency-response coordination and other efforts aimed at reducing wildfire risk throughout the Covenant.
- Water: Long-range water resilience has been added to the planning conversation, along with continued coordination with local agencies.
- The Centennial: With Rancho Santa Fe’s 100th anniversary approaching, planning for the Covenant’s Centennial is officially on the list.
There is also a less visible but increasingly important priority: Sacramento.
The Association said it plans to continue monitoring state and regional legislation that could affect Rancho Santa Fe, particularly bills involving housing, density, land use and common-interest communities. This is certainly time sensitive as there are several imminent bills awaiting the California Governor’s signature increasing the density in unincorporated areas of San Diego County.
And Then There’s the Price Tag
Rather than looking at each major project separately, the Association is developing a 10-year capital plan intended to put the fitness center, parking, office expansion, trails and other capital needs into one longer-term financial picture.
That means considering not only what it costs to build something, but what it will cost to operate and maintain it – and, ultimately, how members will pay for it.
This poses a question many may be asking: Could another assessment increase be in our future?
While it was not discussed at Thursday’s meeting, ideas circulating in emails among those close to the Association have included another assessment increase – or even a more fundamental restructuring of the assessment system toward a “flat-tax” type model. Any such restructuring would, of course, require approval by the membership through a vote.
Concerns Persist
Continuing discussion by RSF Post readers and contributors include issues that deserve a place in the Association’s strategic thinking:
- Transparency surrounding the proposed fitness center and spa. Preliminary design work has already been done, but the project was not presented to members as an open-meeting agenda item. How far should a major capital project (that ranked in the middle of the 2022 member survey) progress before members are brought into the conversation?
- The ongoing legal dispute with The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. The almost three-year dispute stems from the Golf Club’s ending golf privileges for hotel guests, which The Inn alleges breached an existing agreement. Members are concerned about mounting legal costs to the Association and how long the dispute could continue.
- Increasing development pressure. Anticipated state and County legislation that could increase density in unincorporated San Diego County – including Rancho Santa Fe – was a concern, particularly as Sacramento continues to push housing production into traditionally lower-density communities. Closer to home, the RSFA Board recently approved a lot split, by granting a variance in one of the Covenant’s lower-density zones, adding to concerns about increasing density from within as well.
- Silvergate and the Protective Covenant. The proposed senior living development remains a concern for members who contend that its size, density and land use are inconsistent with the Protective Covenant’s original plan. The issue has taken on added urgency as owners of another very large Covenant parcel – now a declining citrus orchard – are preparing for development. The Board has been urged to consider what precedent its decisions may set as other large Covenant parcels come forward for development.
Strategic planning meetings are, by nature, about looking ahead. But perhaps the bigger question raised Thursday wasn’t simply what Rancho Santa Fe should build, improve or prepare for next, but how – and when – the community gets brought into the conversation.