A lot of you have asked about the Safari Highlands Ranch “open house” at City Hall tomorrow – What is it? Are any decisions being made? Should you go?
Here are the details: Tuesday, Nov. 7th from 4:30-7:00pm in the Mitchell Room at City Hall (201 N. Broadway, Escondido). It is an informal, drop in anytime between those hours and leave whenever you need to, event.
What it is: It will be an opportunity to talk to the planning staff from the City of Escondido, the developers (Concordia), possibly their PR people, the consultant hired to prepare the EIR, maybe some of the individual consultants that worked on specific parts of the EIR. There will probably be poster boards and renderings of some of the selling features of SHR (from their perspective).
What it is not: It is NOT a hearing. It is NOT a vote. In fact, there will be no formal presentation and the event will not be recorded. City staff made it clear that questions/comments/concerns must be submitted IN WRITING to be considered. The participants tomorrow are probably interested in hearing your concerns but if you want your issues documented and responded to officially, they MUST to be submitted in writing to the City – that deadline ends Dec. 7th.
Should you go? That is something each of you has to decide for yourself. It is an informal event. You can come and go anytime during 4:30-7:00 pm. There will not be speaker slips like a City Council meeting and no decision is being made. You need to attend the actual City Council hearing (when that gets scheduled) if that is what you are looking for. Tomorrow is an opportunity to see what the developer is pitching and ask questions you still have. It is not the place to raise a ruckus and expect action.
All that aside, the most important thing is for you to read the EIR. It is a huge document but if you have concerns, read a section that interests you. Don’t substitute someone else’s understanding for your own. The Executive Summary is a good place to start for an overview. You all have the benefit of knowing this area. Is there a glaring omission? Is there a conclusion that doesn’t make sense? Don’t let its size or details scare you into taking someone else’s word for it.
If what you’re hearing doesn’t make sense, it’s probably because IT doesn’t make sense.
#NoSafariSprawl #SmartGrowth #StopSHR
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