Rainbow approves application to LAFCO to annex Meadowood

The April meeting of the Rainbow Municipal Water District board included an out-of-agency service agreement for Rainbow to serve Pardee Homes’ Meadowood development, which is currently within the boundaries of the Valley Center Municipal Water District. The May 26 Rainbow board meeting included a 4-0 vote, with Helene Brazier not able to participate in the meeting, to submit an application to annex the Meadowood area.

The motion directed Rainbow general manager Tom Kennedy to prepare and submit an application to San Diego County’s Local Agency Formation Commission to annex the Meadowood land. The April 28 action included direction to district staff to prepare an application to LAFCO, and a preliminary application was presented to the board for the May 26 meeting.

“It’s not 100% complete. We have a couple of cleanup items,” Kennedy said.

The remaining items are technical documents being prepared by Pardee Homes including technical subdivision maps and county permit documentation.

The board also authorized Rainbow to pay the LAFCO filing fees, although Pardee Homes will reimburse the district for that cost. Kennedy was also authorized to provide LAFCO with additional forms or documentation related to the annexation process.

“This is just to finalize the detachment from Valley Center and annexation into Rainbow,” Kennedy said.

In January 2012, the county board of supervisors approved the 384-acre Meadowood development. At the time the land was within the San Luis Rey Municipal Water District, which is not part of the San Diego County Water Authority, but the board of supervisors’ conditions included annexing the property into the SDCWA.

The original approved map included 397 single-family homes, 447 multi-family dwelling units, 13 acres for an elementary school which will be built by the Bonsall Unified School District, four acres of park land, 128 acres of biological open space, 47 acres of agricultural open space, 5.9 miles of trails and a wastewater treatment plant. Avoiding impacts to sensitive environmental resources, a public park was relocated, and the residential component is now expected to consist of 473 single-family and 352 multi-family homes, while the public park size has increased to 9.1 acres with the trail length reduced to 5.6 miles.

Pardee Homes had entered into a pre-annexation agreement with the Rainbow Municipal Water District in 2004, but in April 2005, the Rainbow board instructed the district’s legal counsel to work with Pardee Homes on terminating the agreement. In December 2008, Rainbow’s board voted to terminate that agreement. In January 2011, the Valley Center Municipal Water District board voted to support the annexation of Meadowood into that district, and LAFCO approved the annexation in 2014. Meadowood is not adjacent to the rest of the Valley Center boundaries, and the plan when the property was annexed was for Pardee Homes to construct water and sewer lines to Meadowood at the developer’s expense.

The nearest Valley Center facility is across Couser Canyon and multiple miles away from Meadowood. The project is immediately adjacent to Rainbow’s facilities.

“The reality is that the project is best served by Rainbow,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy and Valley Center general manager Gary Arant are their district’s representatives on the San Diego County Water Authority board. Jimmy Ayala, division president of Pardee Homes, is one of the city of San Diego’s representatives on the SDCWA board. The three had discussed having Rainbow rather than Valley Center serve Meadowood. The out-of-agency service agreement approved by the Valley Center district in March and the Rainbow district in April, which allows facilities to be constructed while the actual annexation and detachment application is being processed by LAFCO.

A resolution approved at the April 1 Valley Center Municipal Water District board meeting provided support for Rainbow’s annexation and detachment application.

“This is a pretty straightforward process with LAFCO because there are two consenting districts and a consenting property owner,” Kennedy said.

The LAFCO application fees cover the expected costs of processing. Because full consent is expected the LAFCO fee will be $21,135.50. Although Rainbow will be the official applicant to annex the Meadowood area, Pardee Homes will be responsible for the LAFCO processing fees, with a $50,000 cap, and will also pay the costs to prepare the application materials. Pardee Homes will also pay any legal costs associated with a challenge to the reorganization.

LAFCO staff will review the proposal for service and financial impacts before making a recommendation to the LAFCO board. An analysis will be part of that process.

“It’s pretty much making sure you have all the maps done right,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy expected the LAFCO board to hear the annexation and detachment proposal in late 2020 or early 2021.

Joe Namain can be reached by email at [email protected].