Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
During the Fallbrook Community Planning Group (FCPG) meeting of February 18, County Planner Devon Muto, who was sharing information about General Plan 2020, asked the group about the possibility of annexing 21 square miles in De Luz to their responsibility of coverage.
When asked who has been overseeing that area’s needs with the county in the past, FCPG member Harry Christiansen offered some information.
“The area of Del Luz is called Pendleton De Luz and it’s never had a planning group,” explained Christiansen.
Any county issues pertaining to the De Luz area has been determined directly by the County Department of Planning and Land Use.
“The only difference between Fallbrook and De Luz is that De Luz does not have a local group that reviews and advises the county on those types of issues,” said Christiansen.
Christiansen reviewed the fact that Fallbrook has a planning group, Rainbow has a planning group and Bonsall has sponsor group. In a sponsor group, members are appointed by the county supervisors, not elected by the voting public.
“The county gives [FCPG] a lot of credibility, and they very often listen to what we have to say – although on occasion, we don’t prevail,” said Christiansen.
Currently, the area FCPG covers includes Sandia Creek Road going north to the county line and the area immediately west of that, said Christiansen.
The De Luz area, he explained, lies west and north of that, all the way up to the county line and over the mountains of Cleveland National Forest.
Parts of this site also include Camp Pendleton.
Christiansen has heard there are roughly 2,000 people living in the area of De Luz in question. “The terrain out there is different from Fallbrook,” he said.
At this time, there are only two projects pending in this specific area. “There is not much going on out there, because it’s pretty rural,” Christiansen added.
Christiansen admits the FCPG could possibly help Del Luz residents in dealing with county issues.
“For instance, the FCPG has been very good in dealing with the county in getting road improvements in our own planning area, and in this Del Luz area, they have nobody to help them deal with things at the county level,” he explained. “Some of the people out there think if we took it over we would be instrumental in helping them.”
Regardless of the potential benefits, Christiansen admits he is not convinced that annexing this acreage in De Luz would be the right decision for the FCPG.
“I’m not sure if [residents of De Luz] really want our help,” said Christiansen. “In fact, Jim Russell [chairman of the board] says he’s kind of leery taking on that area unless the people out there say that they want us to do it.”
Being an active real estate agent, Christian is pretty familiar with De Luz, but he admits he does not feel competent enough to offer recommendations: “I don’t know it all that well and it’s a long way out there.”
The De Luz annexation is still up for discussion. Christian claims that the county has no driving interest in having Fallbrook take on this additional responsibility.
More importantly, “we haven’t really heard from the people in Del Luz,” said Christiansen. “Russell said that he’d like to have a town hall meeting out there to find out if people really want us to be involved.”
While some of the FCPG members are reluctant to boldly stepping into the De Luz territory, others are willing to jump right in. One of these is Eileen Delaney.
“My point of view is that there is no representation in De Luz right now,” said Delaney. “I have heard from several Del Luz residents that they would like us to represent them.”
Delaney pointed out that the focus of the FCPG is the future and whatever occurs in De Luz could have a direct impact on Fallbrook.
“Being involved with De Luz can help our future,” she said.
Delaney explained that she is well aware of the additional work involved if an annexation were to prevail.
“I’m on the planning group and I am not afraid to work,” she said. “I can learn their terrain and there are other alternatives as well.”
These alternatives, explained Delaney, could very well involve a De Luz subcommittee, or enlisting De Luz residents to help in ‘land use’ matters.
As far as Delaney is concerned, there are always solutions to a new challenge. “Annexing De Luz is really an important step that we need to strongly consider,” she said.
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