Why does San Diego County need a new equine zoning ordinance?In March 2007, a family in Bonsall was denied their private horse barn permit at a hearing with the San Diego County Zoning Commissioner. Several equestrian citizens spoke at the "standing room only" meeting, after which the Zoning Commissioner stated, "We have not heard from the Horse Community since the 1960's. Please put an organization together and send two or three representatives to tell us what you want."After that meeting, the www.sdcha.org was formed. Two years later, the Valley Center Community Planning Group appointed an Equine Subcommittee in response to Sally Cobb going public with the 6-year permitting nightmare she endured with her horse business, Tapestry Meadows. The Equine Subcommittee worked steadily for 9 months researching other California counties' equine zoning ordinances and they are thrilled about San Diego County's choice to create a tiered system of permitting for horse businesses. The current Zoning Ordinance of San Diego County requires the owners of most properties to obtain a Major Use Permit just to board one horse or teach one riding lesson or breed and sell one foal, even properties already zoned for Agriculture. The County does not consider horses agriculture. The only exceptions to the MUP are specific animal designator zoning codes such as O, W, X, or if the property owner can prove through aerial photography and commercial receipts that the property has been used as a horse boarding commercial business operation before 1969, when the San Diego County Zoning Ordinance was established. The application for a Major Use Permit is 113 pages with an initial application fee of $16,211.00. Add $1,000.00 if you are a code violator, add the costs of engineering documents and 12 or more CEQA studies (traffic, site distance, air quality, noise impacts, environmental site assessment, landscape, storm water, biology, community character/visual analysis, fire plan, agricultural impact study, archaeology study, and more at an average cost of $10,000.00 each). Add the BOS' I-18 road improvement requirements, the fire marshal's paving & fire hydrant requirements, the DPW's road improvement requirements, the TIF = Traffic Impact Fees, and you are into the MUP for several hundred thousand dollars. Because the Major Use Permit is a "discretionary" permit, there is no cap on fees and no guarantee, so a boarding stable could spend a million dollars and many years processing the Major Use Permit's Scoping Letter requirements including CEQA studies, only to have their permit denied. The Zoning Ordinance is only enforced on a complaint basis, and most residents have no idea what the ordinance contains. Even land use experts have difficulty deciphering the contents of the voluminous ordinance, and county staff differ among themselves in regards to its interpretation. We want a new Equine Ordinance that protects and promote equestrian enterprise and equine welfare through reasonable permit fees and requirements. While preserving our current rights, we envision a new equine ordinance with which County staff including Code Enforcement will work respectfully with horse facility owners in a helpful and friendly manner, educating and assisting them with BMPs, CEQA, Stormwater compliance, and reasonable mitigation for environmental impacts without the requirement of a MUP for small to mid-sized equestrian facilities. We recommend that a volunteer task force, a Technical Equine Advisory Committee, be appointed by the Board of Supervisors to assist with this project, similar to the very successful Confined Large Animal Technical Advisory Committee in San Mateo County. The DPLU and the BOS encourage equestrians to get involved with their community sponsor group that is appointed to represent the community's interests. You can be an advocate for equestrian land use! The County of San Diego DPLU wants to hear from your Sponsor Group. To contact your community sponsor group and to get involved as an equestrian advocate in your community, click here: http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/dplu/docs/plngchairs.pdf ************************************************************************************************************************* People who wish to open a horse business are faced with disproportionate regulations, outrageously expensive permitting processes, and overall negativity from the County of San Diego towards horses. It is unfortunate because these types of businesses keep people employed while they generate huge revenues that benefit the economy of Southern California. "After we purchased a 10-acre A70-L zoned property, the County approached us with a two-year-old complaint against the previous owners. We have spent an enormous amount of time and money trying to obtain the required permits, all to no avail. In 2009 the County issued a new citation stating that horses are not allowed on our property because they are not considered livestock but rather "accessories" since we don't live on the property. I bought this property for my horses, my family, and my grand kids to enjoy. The County has made it a nightmare." "For six years we processed the required major use permit for our horse business, after which the DPLU pulled the rug out from under us with a 400% County fee increase. With no fee cap and no permit guarantee, it would be insane to continue. $150K and 6 years of efforts down the drain. "We moved to San Diego County in 2005 with the hope of building our dream stable. After 5 years of jumping through the County's hoops, we still have to board our horses elsewhere instead of having them at home." "We went through the major use permit process to "legally" board horses on their 8 acres. It took 3 years, over $60K, and this was doing most of the work ourselves. Four years later the County told us that we could not use the adjacent arena we had been using because it was not included in the MUP. Also, the fire marshal made a requirement that we had to asphalt our parking lot. That was the last straw. We cut our losses and threw in the towel." A family from Orange County purchased a ranch property in San Diego County that had always been used as a horse ranch, hosting interstate events for the equestrian community as far back as 1969. Even though the local newspaper has archived photos and stories that verify this historical land use, the DPLU refuses to grant a Variance for these same equestrian activities. A review of the property's history revealed that the property was subdivided in 1984 and in order to complete the subdivision map, the County forced those owners to agree in writing that the ranch was not used for boarding, breeding, or equestrian events and would not be in the future. Those owners failed to secure their rights to equestrian events and activities. The current owners had a huge surprise when they learned the history of their property, and that they are not allowed to do what they were told they could do when they purchased the property. There
should be a law that requires a complete property history and permit
disclosure prior to any close of escrow on any property! |
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