Hundreds of new homes are being built as part of a housing development in unincorporated San Diego County, over objections from local residents.
Neighbors in North County, who have been opposing the project for years, expressed their concerns to NBC 7 about the lack of adequate evacuation routes.
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Jonathan Dummer, whose house is next to the planned development area, stated, “We’ve been at this fight for something like, really, about 15 years now.”
The area, which borders Escondido and San Marcos, will get 453 new residences as a result of the project.
The proposal has drawn criticism from the community and environmental organizations since, according to them, there is no fire evacuation route in an area that burnt in October 1996.
When you include all of the other developments, Rancho Santa Fe’s developments are half as large as Rancho Cielo or The Bridges, and they have several exits,” Drummer stated. “I mean, we don t have a second one …”
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Dummer stated that he only wants locals to be able to leave securely and that he has no objections to the construction. He claimed to comprehend the safety danger because he has experienced it firsthand.
We all know what it’s like to escape when there are only a few houses left, having lost a buddy in the Harmony Grove fire,” Dummer added. “On that road, we are just 27 houses away. Additionally, it is quite difficult to escape fires like the Coco’s Fire.
J.P. Theberge is likewise in favor of adding extra exits.
3,500 cars will enter a two-lane road after this project is constructed, and based on traffic flow, evacuating 1.5 miles will take seven hours, according to Theberge.
The planning commission was informed by David Kovach, managing partner for Harmony Grove Village South, that the project will supply much-needed middle-class housing.
Kovach told NBC 7 that the fire fears were really scare tactics and that their plans had been authorized by evacuation, law enforcement, and fire specialists.
But worried neighbors were not reassured by Kovach’s presentation.
In actuality, I won’t be blaming God if a fire breaks out there and people are killed or hurt,” Dummer stated. “It s the decision-makers, the folks in here today and the board of supervisors who are going to decide whether or not we lose people on that road.”
On October 1, the project is expected to be presented to the board of supervisors.
