The Valley Center Planning Group at its November
meeting voted to set up a subcommittee to examine illegal horse
boarding facilities as a county issue and to advise the County
how to solve the problem.
The subcommittee, chaired by Paul Herigstad, includes Pam Hargesheimer,
Dave Anderson, Sally Cobb, Dr. Matt Matthews, Judy Duncan and
Maureen Coleman. Others are invited to join.
The action was prompted by the plight of Tapestry Meadows, whose
owner Sally Cobb seeks a major use permit from the Dept. of
Planning & Land Use (DPLU) to operate a horse boarding facility
on Andeen Road, near I-15. Her costs from the County are now
over $100,000.
Group chairman Oliver Smith had suggested separating Mrs. Cobb’s
issues from the global issue that relates to hundreds if not
thousands of illegal boarding operations in the county.
At October’s meeting he had been authorized to send a
letter to DPLU expressing the group’s concerns over how
the project has been processed. Smith had instead directly requested
that DPLU’s director Eric Gibson personally review the
project.
“His [Gibson’s] comment was that the DPLU was being
fair in this project,” said Smith, who added he wants
to get back to Gibson because he has reviewed the 64 page letter
DPLU sent the group relating to the Cobb property and found
“twenty-five pages where they were saying things that
were inconsistent as well as many clerical objections.”
This includes buildings that were on the property when Cobb
bought it.
He wants to talk over the issues with Gibson so Smith can focus
the letter he is going to send to DPLU on issues the planning
group would like addressed.
During the discussion Mrs. Cobb told the group, “We don’t
have the money to continue.”
Smith emphasized that the committee’s purpose will be
to address the problem countywide, much as county wine growers
were able to get an ordinance crafted that allowed wine tastings
without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a major
use permit.
“Valley Center is a place we want to encourage boarding
horses. It’s not just VC that will be interested, but
it will take work to bring together those whose interests lie
in that area,” said Smith. That work may take years, he
said. “We are not looking one particular project, we are
looking at a global zoning issue.”
He added, “We will start with a subcommittee whose charter
is to bring together and understand what these illegalities
are and branch out to other planning and sponsor groups and
get some level of support and then talk to DPLU in the same
way wine growers got the small wineries ordinance.”
He noted that right now all it takes is one neighbor complaining
about a boarding facility to cause the County to put a spotlight
on it.
He said he understands why most people are reluctant to speak
publically about it, “and become the sacrificial lamb.”
“We’re going to act as a catalyst to get something
started,” added planner Jon Vick.
Smith said they should research how vintners got their issue
addressed, and imitate them. “To go forward you have to
have an idea of how to do it,” he said.
Audience member Patsy Fritz advised seeking a new land use designation
that might be called “Limited Equine,” specifically
for limited small boarding facilities.
“Horse people should give input on what restrictions they
would be willing to accept. [Supervisor] Dianne Jacob in east
county is going to love you for this.”
Mrs. Cobb said the San Diego County Farm Bureau is behind these
efforts, although it can’t help since it’s not a
farming issue.
Several Tapestry Meadows supporters asked to speak. They wanted
to rebut comments made by one of Mrs. Cobb’s neighbors
at the October meeting.
One neighbor said there has always been a problem with rotting
fruit creating flies in that neighborhood. That couldn’t
be attributed to the boarding facility.
“There are other properties with cows and chickens. If
he [the neighbor] has an issue with odor it’s from the
neighbor across from him,” she said.
Another said, “Sally’s is the best thing that has
ever happened to that area. It would be a shame to lose that
to a subdivision.”
Denise Bauer declared, “Not only is Sally’s place
a pleasant place to board, but it’s a safe place, and
the most important thing is safety. She should be a model for
horse boarding. She’s done what she’s supposed to
do. It would be a shame if she’s squashed.”
Terry Williams commented, “It seems there should be a
common sense way to approach the County’s problems. It’s
just one flub after another. It’s just insanity. It took
one false accusation to cause all this ruckus and mess. Even
if she shuts down her operation, she’s got code violations
that she was unaware of when she bought the property. The structure
[she was cited for] was built in the 50s. I hope this community
has enough clout to say there has to be a way to make this work.”
Meetings of the new subcommittee will be announced in the paper.
