County’s Goal for Unincorporated Areas is to Permit 6,700 Homes by 2029—The Wolf is at the Door

It's rough having San Diego County as your "guardian" when the "guard" part is missing from the word.

In recent years, we have been treated like the red-headed stepchild. In case you're unfamiliar with that terminology, the phrase "red-headed stepchild" refers to someone who is neglected, mistreated, or unwanted, especially by those who should be responsible for its care.

Most of us love the open space and rural lifestyle and moved here because the Sweetwater Community Plan laid out precisely what we had envisioned.

"The Sweetwater Community is a unique resource within San Diego County. It provides a semi-rural equestrian community which is close to urban areas and employment opportunities. Its surrounding low hills and the broad Sweetwater River Valley, with tree-lined views, provide a visual relief from other residential areas. The western half of the plan area is mostly developed residential land with single-family homes on parcels less than one acre in size. There is little commercial land and no industrial land in the community planning area." –Sweetwater Community Plan, San Diego County General Plan

Past decades have seen the County giving away our resources to surrounding areas, especially Chula Vista.

Nearly our entire Commercial District was given to Chula Vista, leaving us no financial means if we ever did decide to incorporate.

The County gave Chula Vista one of our golf courses (Chula Vista Golf Course) and Rohr Park, bringing additional Chula Vista traffic to Sweetwater Road and tributaries. The Master Plan for Rohr Park is currently under discussion with little to no consideration for the Bonita neighborhoods that surround it.

Then there's the 10,000 toll avoiders that jump off the SR 125 daily to drive through our 25 MPH residential neighborhoods like they own it. Because of the accelerated speeds through the community, it feels more like an Indy 500 and one takes their life in their hands to walk, ride a bike or ride a horse along San Miguel Road or Bonita Road. Removing that cut-through traffic would do much to return the neighborhood to what it once was, tranquil and relaxed.

And now, more than ever before, the wolf is literally at the door.

With all the slicing and dicing, Bonita is just a sliver of it's original self.

Now the carpetbaggers have their eye on the unincorporated areas of San Diego County. That very much includes the Bonita-Sunnyside area. If you are unfamiliar with the term "carpetbagger", it refers to any opportunistic outsider seeking profit in a new place. 

"The county’s goal for unincorporated areas is to permit 6,700 homes by 2029. From 2021 through 2024, 1,552 of the 5,244 permitted homes the county reported to the state were ADUs."—Lisa Halverstadt, Voice of San Diego

For all the details, read Lisa Halaverstadt's "ADU Construction is Fueling the County's Housing Production."

Like I said in the beginning, it's rough having San Diego County as your "guardian" when the "guard" part is missing from the word.

I used to feel that the County had our back . . . in the days of Supervisors Greg Cox and Dianne Jacob. Now I believe that we're just a source of income. And once those resources dry up, will we even recognize our beautiful Bonita?

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