The August 23rd issue of the San Diego Union-Tribune has an article by Bruce Lieberman, U-T staff writer entitled: “Restrictions asked on use of district’s idle site”
A few highlights:
San Diego Union High School District (SDUHSD) Superintendent Ken Noah made it clear that ultimatums and scare tactics will make it more difficult to negotiate.
The Friends of North County (FONC) group had sent out scare-tactic letters, fabricated photographs, and mis-statements that have concerned many La Costa Valley residents. Other residents have supported these methods.
Some FONC members are now on the board of La Costa Valley and on a steering committee, and are issuing demands to the school district in advance of a vote by La Costa Valley Homeowners.
“If this is a set of demands that are not acceptable to the district and there’s no room to negotiate, it’s going to be very hard to forge a solution here,” Noah said yesterday.
The article also raises the matter that the Mello-Roos taxes paid for the middle school were collected in other areas besides La Costa Valley, and also that those taxes were not designated only for a middle school.
Concerned La Costa Valley homeowners should get involved now:
Attend the School District and City Planning Department meetings to listen to the issues and let your voices be heard
Let the La Costa Valley Homeowner’s Association know your concerns:
Encourage them to use effective negotiating techniques and not resort to the scare and mis-information tactics of the FONC group
Remind the board not to take action on this matter before it has been authorized to do so by a 2/3 vote of the La Costa Valley Homeowners. Otherwise, the time and money spent on such efforts won’t be legally binding so will be wasted.
Let the board know how you feel about the various proposals that have been raised, such as an assessment on all homeowners to buy or develop the property, an assessment on homeowners that live adjacent to the undeveloped property, or an assessment to pay for legal fees.
On this website in May, we asked La Costa Valley homeowners how much they would be willing to pay to simply buy the vacant land from the school district. (see the original article and poll results) Note: this is not a legally binding vote, does not represent all homeowners, and may not even be an option for us. Just the same, like every straw poll, it gives a better view of how things might turn out.
Based on the latest results, only a fraction of LCV homeowners have the will, interest or financial foresight to make any substantial committment.
Half said they would not be willing to pay any assessment. Just over a quarter (27%) said they’d pay up to $1,000 in the next 12 months. 12% said they’d pay up to $5,000. And 4% said they’d pay up to $10,000, 4% up to $25,000 and 4% up to $100,000. Taken all together, this amounts to about $6-$7 million dollars. Certainly a tidy sum, but only a fraction of the property’s value, even in these market conditions.
If you’re a strong supporter of FONC and want La Costa Valley Homeowners to take this property into their own hands, then you need to get involved and convince your neighbors to pony up a bit more.
If you’re a private property developer (many live in La Costa Valley), this straw poll shows will need to find additional financing beyond what the homeowners will come up with.
If you’re one of the 50% of homeowners that doesn’t want to pay your share, then talk to your neighbors and the HOA board. If there is an assessment, it is likely that every homeowner will need to pay their share.
There is a little-known law which controls what a school district can and can’t do with property they own.
The Naylor Act (Education Code sections 17485-1750) requires school districts, who propose to lease or sell land used for outdoor recreation and open space land suited for recreational purposes, to offer to lease or sell a portion of the land at discount to either a city or county, whichever has jurisdiction.
Did you ever read something fro a governmental agency that you’re sure says something, but then again, it’s not quite clear what it says?
Property owners in La Costa Valley and beyond should have received a mailing from the SDUHSD entitled “Community Information Session” and District Facilities Action Plan Overview of Process.
Reading between the lines, as they talk about a “multi-step analysis of all District sites and facilities” this certainly involves the vacant property in La Costa Valley.
More information is promised on the SDUHSD.NET website.
If you’re interested, attend the meeting at Oak Crest Middle School’s Crest Hall on June 23rd at 6pm.
What’s going on with the vacant middle school property?
What’s the latest shakeup on the HOA Board now that another Board member has stepped down? Will another Friends of North County member be put on the board?
Will the Board vote to move over a million dollars to a different financial institution?
Attend the HOA Board meeting and find out for yourself, or even have some say in these matters.
There is no current lawsuit about the vacant land owned by the school district.
On some questions, there may be as many opinions as neighbors. Some neighbors may believe it’s worth risking legal action to prevail over the school district, developers, or whoever is at fault for not building a middle school as advertised. Others may be concerned that any legal action will have a negative effect on property values.
What is your opinion?
Check back for the sentiments of other La Costa Valley homeowners.
There have been a lot of questions raised about the group calling themselves Friends of North County. (FONC)
Here are some ways to learn a little more yourself.
Non-profit status
You can check to see when Friends of North County (FONC) is granted non-profit or 501(c)3 status, so are eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions.
Go to the IRS website and check if have been granted that status yet. Just enter “Friends of North County” in the name.
You can also check on Charity Navigator, which shows how well foundations and non-profits spend their money.
Website
You can learn more about FONC directly from their website. If you type “friendsofnorthcounty.org” you get one of those blank, coming-soon, type of pages. But, there actually is more information deeper on the site, including their stated mission.
The La Costa Valley HOA is having a special HOA meeting on Tuesday May 6th at 7pm, at the Coastline Community Church on Calle Barcelona.
The topic of the meeting is the vacant property next to the church, and how much we will be involved in its future. Specifically, the meeting is regarding La Costa Valley Master Assoc.’s authority-limitations and capabilities regarding School District property.
Can La Costa Valley Homeowners have a say in the use of the property?
Will this be as citizens of the City of Carlsbad?
Will this be through the LCV Homeowner’s Association?
Will our voices be heard as parents of middle-age school children?
It’s very important that homeowners get involved now however they feel about the school district’s property.
Please tell your La Costa Valley friends and neighbors about the meeting, because we did not get much advance notice.
There’s the possibility that this special HOA Board meeting may not be valid for any voting purposes.
According to the HOA by-laws, we need to be told about upcoming meetings well in advance. Notice for HOA special meetings must be within 20 days after a board president calls a special a meeting or after the board receives a petition asking for one, and must be no sooner than 35 days and no later than 90 days after that decision or petition. See section 4.6 in the by-laws on the official La Costa Valley HOA website (you will need Adobe PDF).
The notice will be in the paper newsletter, but at best that will only arrive one or two days before the meeting, certainly not enough time for busy La Costa Valley HOA homeowners to change their schedules.
