Safari Highlands Ranch

• San Diego Union-Tribune: Escondido election outcome puts Safari Highlands vote in question        
• The Coast News: San Pasqual Fire renews concerns for Safari Highlands proposal
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Safari Highlands Ranch housing development moving towards final decisions
• San Diego Reader: One million dollar houses atop San Pasqual Valley
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Lessons learned? Lilac Fire tested strategies drawn from ’07 and ’03 fires
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Noticing error likely to delay Safari Highlands vote
• The Coast News: Lines drawn over proposed Safari Highlands Ranch
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Decision nears on Safari Highlands project
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Next step looms in Safari Highlands debate
• The San Diego Reader: Escondido neighbors call it sprawl
• San Diego Union-Tribune: 2017 should bring decision on Safari Highlands project
• The Escondido Grapevine: Tale of two master-planned developments
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Safari Highlands project delayed
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Little school faces big changes
• The Escondido Grapevine: Escondido road closures and (Lilac Hills, Safari Highland ranches) developments – scroll to bottom of article for SHR info
• Voice of San Diego: Developer Tries to Make Escondido Bigger to Accommodate 550 Luxury Homes
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Housing projects continue slow march forward
• San Diego Union-Tribune: New regulations prompt threatening letter
• Times-Advocate: Public meetings inform on proposed Safari Highlands Ranch project
• San Diego Free Press: Escondido Can’t Afford the Safari Highlands Ranch Development
• San Diego Free Press: Escondido’s Lyin’ King Sees Riches in the Safari Highlands Ranch Proposal
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Neighbors decry Safari Highlands Ranch plans
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Safari Highlands Ranch inches forward
• San Diego Union-Tribune: Boom or Doom? Huge projects loom

Regional News Affecting Escondido and SHR

Lake Wohlford Dam project has been halted indefinitely after it was revealed the project is ineligible for a $25M loan to pay for the project from the CA Dept. of Water Resources. As a result, $15M in matching state money will be lost because those funds required that the dam project be completed by the end of next year.  The implications for Escondido and water availability throughout the North County is significant; Escondido gets ~30% of it’s water from Lake Wohlford as well as parts of Vista, San Marcos, Oceanside and Carlsbad.  Given the structural instability of the Lake Wohlford Dam in the event of an earthquake, the water level in that lake has been lowered by half which means less water availability, less electricity generation capability and environmental concerns for the water quality of the lake.

San Diego Union-Tribune: Wohlford dam replacement delayed

For the second year, State Route 78 at Twin Oaks Valley Road is rated as San Diego County’s worst traffic bottleneck. Transportation data estimates 475,000 total vehicle hours were wasted in that stretch of the 78 alone.  On average, registered drivers in San Diego county spent an average of 3.5 days waiting in traffic last year, or about 20 minutes per workday.

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego County’s 10 worst bottlenecks

Residents and local politicians gather to learn more about the Lilac Hills Ranch ballot initiative process and its impact on the quality of life in San Diego County.

Valley Roadrunner: Lilac Hills Ranch opponents decry initiative process’s vulnerability to “deep pockets”

Accretive Investments is taking a new approach to get the Lilac Hills Ranch project done: collecting signatures to put it for a county-wide vote, conveniently side-stepping CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) requirements in the process.

Voice of San Diego: Lilac Hills Ranch Developer to Try Yet Another Way Around ‘No’

Prop S

Although Safari Highlands Ranch will not trigger Prop S because it does not require an amendment to the City of Escondido’s General Plan, this article on Prop S is a good primer on the purpose behind Prop S and how it has served Escondido growth trajectory well for many years.

San Diego Union-Tribune: Prop. S helped save Escondido

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