Land Development 101

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4 days ago
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This information comes from the public record, a December 6, 2024 San Diego County Planning Commission Meeting. The agenda item is the Secure Space Self-Storage Bonita (Quarry Storage) Major Use Permit.

Ronald C. Ashman, one of the seven [2024] County Planning Commission members did not mince words during discussion. Meeting Video [1:35:20] He spoke with authority from the dias because he is a seasoned professional, a registered civil engineer and land surveyor in California. The rules governing development have been his bread and butter. He was also familiar with the area. He drove through Bonita (as it was back then) to Southwestern College.

Commissioner Ashman clarified that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a disclosure process. A disclosure process is the mandatory act of making relevant, factual information known to other parties. The CEQA is intended to inform government decision makers and the public about the potential environmental effects of proposed activities.

He took exception to the Sweetwater Community Planning Group’s “natural environment slogan-ism” because it was inconsistent with a fact, the proximity of the site to an interchange between two State highways. The self-storage site would butt against a freeway, a golf course, horse stables, and a road “that’s cross-connecting Bonita with other communities.”

He then referenced the County of San Diego General Plan. Apparently, the fate of the Sweetwater area was sealed awhile ago by the Environmental Justice Element. Environmental justice was mandated into the local land use planning process with the adoption of (California) Senate Bill 1000 in 2016. This element identified Sweetwater as one of the County’s underserved communities.

Commissioner Ashman went on to say:

“You folks ought to take a good long look at the future planning— 30 to 40 years down the road; of what’s that going to do to this [Sweetwater] area. There has been a political barrier set up on the east side of [highway] 125. No housing access to Proctor Valley and any of those areas out there. That’s going to put a westward pressure on housing and future development in the County. The population is growing. You can’t hide from it. That is what this stuff is for and yes, we have some very rigid guidelines and findings we have to make in these types of applications [Major Use Permit.] There are some of the things that we appreciate but are not in a position to take into account— property values... aren’t in the findings that we take into account when we are making these types of decisions.

They do appreciate people who are thinking forward to what this will all become 20-30 years from now. Take a look at Mission Valley and what they are doing to it. When they are done with that, where do you think they are going to go? To the next underserved area. They have already taken Casa del Oro and started it in motion. It’s going to go through Spring Valley, Sweetwater and probably parts of Bonita.”