Environment

Merriam Mountain Development Not Dead Yet

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published January 8, 2010 at 11:39 AM PST

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts has called for another hearing on Merriam Mountain, a major development that would build thousands of new home on Interstate 15.

Roberts says, because of the size and significance of the project, it should get a hearing before the full board of County Supervisors.

Roberts was absent for a vote on the development last month. The remaining supervisors split two to two on the issue, which meant the project would have died without Roberts’ intervention.

Become a KPBS sponsor

The project would put 2,600 homes in the hills west of Interstate 15, north of Escondido.

Roberts cites the substantial issues raised at the previous hearing, including whether there is enough water for so many new homes, the lack of a fire evacuation plan and complaints from rural neighbors about years of construction noise.

The State Attorney General has also questioned its compliance with state law requiring more consideration of carbon emissions.

The County’s General Plan Update, which has been in the works for more than a decade, calls for fewer than 100 homes on the site.

Roberts says all these concerns should be addressed again by both the developer and county staff before the project is brought back before the board for another vote.

Tags

Alison St John

twitter

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.