Save Our Heritage Organisation
Magazine
Winter 2007 - Volume 38, Issue 1
The Threat
Background & Preservation Action Advisory for Rancho Guejito
By Bruce CoonsThe Owners of Rancho Guejito, the Rodney Company have approached the City of Escondido to explore annexation of Rancho Guejito and dense development plans.
The ranch encompasses about 22,000 acres, approximately 36 square miles between state Routes 76 and 78, the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Cleveland National Forest, with elevations ranging from 1,000 feet to 4,221 feet above sea level. This annexation would almost double the size of Escondido.
The Rodney Company board of directors consists of two people, Theodate Coates who is the daughter of the late Benjamin Coates and Jim Nicholson, both of New York City. Nancy Coates, Benjamin Coates' widow, lives in Philadelphia and is not on the board.
The Attorney for Rodney Company, Hank Rupp, has been associated with the family for over twenty years and has been directed to pursue the development of the ranch. Mr. Rupp has stated that the development of the rancho is his only professional activity. In January 2007, Rupp met with Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler and City Manager Clay Phillips asking them to pursue annexation of the ranch to the city so that it could be developed on a dense urban scale. This despite many public assurances over the years, some as recently as an interview last year, in which Nancy Coates said, "We're trying to keep it in a pristine state. We want to keep this as the greatest piece of California property anywhere." Mrs. Coates has always maintained that she would preserve the property, a course that would have fulfilled her late husband's long held desire. Rupp contends that there has been a change of mind, and the board, sans widow Coates, now wants to develop the property.
The proposed future for Rancho Guejito
The Rodney Company has hired a substantial group of lobbyists and consultants to help them develop the ranch. These include: Jim Whalen, who worked on the County's Conservation Plan; John Kern, former San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy's chief of staff; Land-use attorney Donna Jones, who handled the development of the 3,000-home Black Mountain Ranch near Rancho Penasquitos; the lobbying firm Carpi & Clay, who also represent the San Diego County Water Authority, Helix Environmental and Rick Engineering.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Urge your representatives to acquire & preserve this property
300 S. Spring St., Ste. 16701, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Phone: (213) 897-0322 governor@governor.ca.gov
Senator Barbara Boxer
1700 Montgomery St., #240, San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: (415) 403-0100 boxer.senate.gov
Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny
637 3rd Avenue, Suite A-1, Chula Vista CA 91910
Senator Dianne Feinstein
One Post St., #2450, San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 393-0707 feinstein.senate.gov
Senator Christine Kehoe
2445 5th Avenue, Suite 200, San Diego CA 92101
Representative Brian Bilbray
462 Stevens Avenue, Suite 107, Solana Beach, CA 92075
Phone: (858) 350-1150
Representative Susan A. Davis
4305 University Avenue, Suite 515, San Diego CA 92105
www.house.gov/susandavis
Representative Bob Filner
333 F Street, Suite A, Chula Vista, CA 91910
Phone: (619) 422-5963
Representative Duncan Hunter
1870 Cordell Ct., Ste. 206, El Cajon, CA 92020
Phone: (619) 448-5201 www.house.gov/hunter
Assemblywoman Shirley Horton
State Capitol, Room 2174, Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2078, Fax: (916) 319-2178
Assemblywoman Lori Saldana
76th District, 1557 Columbia Street, San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 645-3090, Fax: (619) 645-3094
lori@lorisaldana.com
Chairman Bill Horn
County Board of Supervisors
County Administration Center
1600 Pacific Hwy, Room 335, San Diego CA 92101
bill.horn@sdcounty.ca.gov
Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler
Escondido City Hall, 201 North Broadway, Escondido CA 92025-2798
More from this issue
- From the Editor
A new look with an old name
By Alana Coons- Most Endangered
By Bruce Coons- A Brief History of Rancho Guejito
By Bruce Coons- Another Part of the Story
By Bruce Coons- The Threat
By Bruce Coons- What you can do to help
- The Beauty of our State Parks in Peril
By Bruce Coons- The Cultural Landscape Connection to Historic Preservation
By Alana Coons- What is a Cultural Landscape?
By Alana Coons- The Historic Home Landscape and Gardens
By Alana Coons- A Short Landscape Glossary
- Importance of the Garden in Home Planning
By Richard Requa- When was Modern New?
By Todd Pitman- Every Bungalow Represents our History
By Allen Hazard- History Repeating
Restoring the Whaley House
By Dean Glass- The Sherman-Glbert House
By Alana Coons- 150th Anniversary of the Jackass Mail
By Bruce Coons- Lost San Diego
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