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Economy

Judge Rules Against Escondido In Battle Over Golf Course

By Alison St John / Reporter
Published March 13, 2015 at 11:03 AM PDT
This story was published more than 9 years ago.
Judge Rules Against Escondido In Battle Over Golf Course
Vista Superior Court Judge Earl Maas III issued a ruling Friday that is a blow to Escondido residents hoping to preserve a golf course as open space.

A developer who wants to build houses on a now closed Escondido golf course has won the latest round in a court battle.

Vista Superior Court Judge Earl Maas III issued his ruling early Friday, invalidating a city ordinance that designated the golf course as open space.

“Clearly the purpose of the ordinance was to defeat any housing project for the golf course by amending the general plan to designate SITR’s property as 'Open Space-Park.'" the judge wrote. "The ordinance unfairly discriminates against SITR’s property, and is therefore invalid."

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However, the judge denied many of the plaintiff’s motions that argued the city’s decision to designate the land as open space was inconsistent with the city’s general plan.

The developer, Michael Schlesinger of Stuck in the Rough LLC, bought the Escondido Country Club in 2012 and closed it soon after, declaring it was not viable financially.

He proposed building hundreds of homes on the course. Neighboring residents collected enough signatures for an initiative which the city council adopted as an ordinance, declaring the golf course as open space. Since then the developer has been fighting to overturn the ordinance, saying it constitutes an unfair “taking" of the value of his property, since it was zoned for housing when he bought it.

In a statement, Schlesinger said “The court’s decision to restore the residential designation for the former Escondido Country Club site paves the way for the City, neighborhood homeowners, and ourselves as the property owner to resolve the future use of the site.”

Schlesinger has proposed two compromise development plans in the last year, but the city has refused to consider them unless he dropped his court case.

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Mike Slater, president of the Escondido Country Club Homeowners Organization, said he is disappointed in the judge's ruling. He said the residents hope the city will decide to appeal the ruling since they legally collected the signatures required for the 2013 initiative that resulted in the ordinance the judge has ruled against.

Slater said organization's board might be willing to consider negotiating with the developer, but Schlesinger's past actions do not inspire trust.

The developer has offered to reduce the number of homes to 270 . Slater said no-one polled in the community has said they are willing to accept more than about 100 homes on a reduced size golf course, and they want to maintain the retirement community feel of the neighborhood.

Escondido’s city attorney has yet to respond to KPBS requests for a response to the ruling.

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Economy San Diego
Alison St John
Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.
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