Planning Commission approves Ridge Creek tentative map

The county’s Planning Commission approved a tentative map for a 14-lot subdivision off Ridge Creek Drive.

The 5-0 vote March 21, with two members absent, approves the split of a 32.96-acre parcel into lots which will range in size from 2.00 to 2.64 net acres.

The land owned by the Leising Trust and the McConnell Family Trust has A70, or Limited Agriculture, zoning, and the project conditions will include off-site improvements to Ridge Creek Drive as well as mitigation for coastal sage scrub and coast live oak woodland.

The site in the 3000 block of Ridge Creek Drive has an existing house which will be removed.

The project has an environmental Mitigated Negative Declaration which was revised in February after being circulated for a 30-day public review.

Brushing, clearing, and grading will not be allowed within 300 feet of coastal sage scrub habitat during the breeding season of the California gnatcatcher, which is defined as February 15 through August 30.

A total of 0.87 acres of coast live oak woodland habitat credit must be secured in a North County mitigation bank approved by the California Department of Fish and Game. Permanent fencing and open space signs will be installed along the open space boundary of seven of the lots.

A grading monitoring program will be implemented to mitigate potential impacts to undiscovered buried archaeological resources, and archaeological and Native American monitors will be on-site to perform full-time monitoring.

The project site does not appear to contain any archeological resources, but during the public comment period the San Luis Rey Band of Luiseño Indians requested tribal monitors.

“Members of the band are the most appropriate persons to monitor this project,” said Carmen Mojado of the San Luis Rey Band during the Planning Commission hearing.

The monitoring is not expected to find any archaeological artifacts or Native American burial sites.

“The soil has been tilled to probably a 12 to 14 inch depth for years,” said property owner John McConnell.

The site contains non-native grasses and a drainage swale running north and south along the property boundary.

Coastal sage scrub will be mitigated at a 2:1 ratio while coast live oak woodland will be mitigated at a 3:1 ratio.

Each home will have an on-site wastewater system; eight lots will have septic pits while the other six will have leach fields.

A stormwater management plan ensures that the project will not substantially alter the existing drainage pattern and make downstream areas vulnerable to erosion.

The project will also extend a Fallbrook Public Utility District water pipeline by 1,600 feet.

The extension will allow the FPUD water main to be looped, which will provide for availability for existing residences from both ends of the looped water main and will also stabilize water pressure for existing service.

“It will give the water district more flexibility,” said consulting engineer David Lowen.

Access to the subdivision will be provided by a 40-foot-wide private road which will connect to Ridge Creek Drive, Ridge Drive, and Live Oak Park Road.

In February 2006 the Fallbrook Community Planning Group heard about the proposed project and recommended its approval by a 14-0 vote.

A tentative map becomes a final map after all conditions of the tentative map have been fulfilled, all deposits and fees have been paid, and the final map is approved by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and recorded by the County Recorder’s office.

Building and grading permits may be issued once a final map is recorded.

A final map carries a completion performance deadline which may be extended by the Board of Supervisors.

That completion performance requirement only applies to roads, water and sewer facilities, and other infrastructure and does not require that the homes themselves be built by that deadline.

The plan of the current owners is to sell the lots individually after the infrastructure improvements are completed, although McConnell indicated that building a spec home or utilizing one of the lots for a family member was also a possibility.