Politics & Government

Supervisors Give Staff One More Month for General Plan

County staff will work on updating the general plan for another month.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors gave county staff another month to resolve issues that have crept into the comprehensive update of the general plan Tuesday.

County officials have been working for a dozen years to modernize the decades-old plan and bring it into accordance with state law, but their efforts have run into opposition from landowners.

The update envisions keeping development closer to the western side of the county, closer to existing infrastructure and water sources. A number of backcountry and desert properties would be down-zoned to lower densities as a result.

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"To me, it boils down to whether the board will come down on the side of the property owners or the extreme environmentalists,'' said board Chairman Bill Horn, who owns farm land in Valley Center. "Down-zoning without compensation to me is stealing, and I can't support that.''

Horn said staff has made progress, but called the update in its current form "false'' and "incomplete.''

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Supervisor Ron Roberts bristled at the "stealing'' term but, with the rest of the board members, said he supported property rights.

The board voted unanimously to have the staff try to reduce the number of outstanding issues -- some conceptual and others having to do with zoning designations of specific properties -- and return to the board on April 13.

At that time, the board could approve the general plan while making decisions itself on any remaining disputes.

City News Service contributed to this report.


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