Act Now!

Write comment letters

We need to remind the Board of Supervisors that evacuation experts have shown that allowing the developer to waive key fire safety measures dooms a community to potential entrapment and death. Scroll down for info on how to write comment letters or some quick one-click emails.

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Try to address things that weren’t addressed previously.

If you provide comments that are too similar to what was provided earlier, they may simply dismiss the comments and refer back to the County’s previous response. See Response to Comments to see how the County responded to earlier comments. Try to find a new angle.

Highlight new information that wasn’t available back in 2018.

If there is any new “information on the ground” that differed from 2018, the County will need to consider it and hopefully analyze it. New fire maps, new projects being proposed, anything that would require them to review original EIR again.

Try to include sources (via links) for claims you are making.

Provide links, articles or studies. The more sources and backup you provide, the more likely they will have to address it substantively which can provide an opening to challenge the EIR.

Make claims that are substantive which require research to rebut.

Claims that are substantive and require a deeper analysis to rebut can help us make the case that this project is deficient.

The fire risk due to lack of egress is our biggest concern.

The County and the RSF Fire District have stated that secondary egress is not necessary. However it is required for projects like this (dead end road standards). No other development in the District only has ONE point of egress. Why is should Harmony Grove residents not warrant this safety protocol? The history of fire, structure loss and loss of life should be enough to remind the supervisors that this project should not be given waivers of any kind.

EMAIL SUPERVISORS

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EMAIL FIRE DISTRICT

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Message examples:

The wildfire risk of this proposed development is simply too high. There are insufficient evacuation routes and it is impossible to add more, due to the steep, rugged terrain.
The property is in a “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.” The Cocos Fire burned right next to this property in 2014, burning 30 homes.
There is only one evacuation route from this property. To meet a minimum level of safety, there would have to be a second way out. But because of steep slopes in the area, there is no feasible way to build a road to create a second evacuation route.
Adding more people to this high-risk zone increases the risk to current residents as well as putting new residents at risk.
This area has an unusually high level of biodiversity and Escondido Creek runs nearby. The community has already made a big investment in conserving much of the land near this property. The project would chop up important wildlife habitat and undermine what we’ve already done to protect wildlife habitat in North County.
Instead of building here, we should be operating under the guidelines of the Fire Safe Infill Alternative, building homes close to villages and in urban centers.
By approving this development despite the obvious safety risks, the County is putting residents at risk, and is prioritizing profits over people.

EMAIL SUPERVISORS

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If your email client doesn’t respond, click here for the appropriate addresses.

EMAIL FIRE DISTRICT

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If your email client doesn’t respond, click here for the appropriate addresses.

Documents

TOWN COUNCIL LETTER TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 2024

TOWN COUNCIL LAWYER LETTER TO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 2018

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO DRAFT FINAL EIR 2018

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO FIRE PROTECTION PLAN

One-click sample emails

These are one-click templates you can use to send out letters to voice your concern. It’s best if you modify the letters by placing your personal anecdotes or story at the beginning, not the end. Send one to the County and one to the Fire District.

COUNTY

OPTION 1

Don't let past supervisors' mistakes dictate the future of our fire-prone community.

If your default email client doesn’t open you can copy and paste by clicking here.

OPTION 2

Harmony Grove Village South is a firetrap. You have the power to fix it.

If your default email client doesn’t open you can copy and paste by clicking here.

OPTION 3

Say no HGV South and to sprawl in wildfire prone areas.

ESPAÑOL

Por favor no ponga nuestra familia en peligro.

FIRE DISTRICT

OPTION 1

You have the power to order a new analysis of the HGV South project. Please don’t leave us hanging.

Share and mobilize

Share the link to this page on social media, in your text threads, through WhatsUp or send an email to your network of friends. If you are a member of a local Facebook group, make sure to share this link with them. The key is to share it with at least five people or in five places. www.dontburnus.org/actnowhgvs

DON’T BURN US

SAY NO TO
HARMONY GROVE VILLAGE SOUTH

ACT NOW AND WRITE AN EMAIL TO OUR DECISION-MAKERS

Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to help oppose the project

SIGN THE PETITION

County Board of Supervisors:

nora.vargas@sdcounty.ca.gov,
terra.lawson-remer@sdcounty.ca.gov,
joel.anderson@sdcounty.ca.gov,
monica.montgomerysteppe@sdcounty.ca.gov,
Jim.Desmond@sdcounty.ca.gov,
MaykentL.Salazar@sdcounty.ca.gov,
Gregory.Kazmer@sdcounty.ca.gov,
Jeffrey.Yuen@sdcounty.ca.gov,
Eric.Henson@sdcounty.ca.gov,
Hunter.McDonald@sdcounty.ca.gov,
Rebecca.Smith2@sdcounty.ca.gov,
Dahvia.Lynch@sdcounty.ca.gov,
amy.harbert@sdcounty.ca.gov,
Mark.Slovick@sdcounty.ca.gov, efhgtc@gmail.com,
Bianca.Lorenzana@sdcounty.ca.gov

RSF Fire Protection District

Montagne@rsf-fire.org,
mcquead@rsf-fire.org
efhgtc@gmail.com

Copy and Paste

OPTION 1

To: nora.vargas@sdcounty.ca.gov, terra.lawson-remer@sdcounty.ca.gov, joel.anderson@sdcounty.ca.gov, monica.montgomerysteppe@sdcounty.ca.gov, Jim.Desmond@sdcounty.ca.gov, MaykentL.Salazar@sdcounty.ca.gov, Gregory.Kazmer@sdcounty.ca.gov, Jeffrey.Yuen@sdcounty.ca.gov, Eric.Henson@sdcounty.ca.gov, Hunter.McDonald@sdcounty.ca.gov, Rebecca.Smith2@sdcounty.ca.gov, Dahvia.Lynch@sdcounty.ca.gov, amy.harbert@sdcounty.ca.gov, Mark.Slovick@sdcounty.ca.gov, efhgtc@gmail.com, Bianca.Lorenzana@sdcounty.ca.gov, Montagne@rsf-fire.org, mcquead@rsf-fire.org

Subject: Don't let past supervisors' mistakes dictate the safety of our fire-prone community.

Message:

Honorable Supervisors and Fire District:

The previous Board of Supervisors voted to approve HGVS project despite the clear guidance from independent experts that this would make evacuation extremely dangerous. The country roads in Elfin Forest, Harmony Grove, and Eden Valley are beautiful but also narrow, winding two-lane roads lined with dense vegetation and chaparral. Adding the traffic from HGVS would make evacuation during a wildfire practically impossible.

The Cocos Fire of 2014 really scared those of us who were around at the time. People were stuck in standstill traffic on both ends of the valley, with some barely making it out before the fire reached their neighborhoods. Since then, the Harmony Grove Village project was built (which was supported by the community on the condition that this would be the last large project to limit our evacuation hazard and wildfire risks). If the HGV South project is approved there will be six times more cars evacuating but no new road capacity. Something like 3500 vehicles will pack onto two-lane roads trying to escape a fire. It would take 7 hours to evacuate everyone. Hopefully, a nearby fire would overwhelm the community in less than 2 hours.

What you may not know is that this community has weathered dozens of major wildfires, on average every four years since the 1980s. We’ve lost many homes over the years and even a neighbor who was killed trying to escape the Harmony Grove fire. It’s hard to understand how this project could move forward without adequate fire safety measures in place, such as a secondary evacuation route and expanded road capacity.

The County and Fire District supported this project, despite it requiring a waiver of fire safety standards (secondary egress requirement), feels like a betrayal. We’re already at risk given the growth we’ve seen in the past decade (more than double the housing). Approving HGVS would push us over the edge. It risks turning our community into the next Maui or Paradise, where evacuating isn’t even an option because of the overwhelming number of vehicles and insufficient infrastructure.

Please, the last Board got it wrong. I urge you to vote no on this dangerous project, or at the very least require a thorough new fire safety analysis and demand a secondary egress. Our lives depend on it.

Sincerely,

Copy and Paste

OPTION 2

Subject: Harmony Grove Village South is a firetrap. You have the power to fix it.

Message:

Dear Supervisors and Fire District,

This project was approved by the last Board of Supervisors and staff in 2018. After the community and environmental groups sued the County and the developer, it was rescinded and the new board wisely chose not to appeal. Since then, much has changed. The wildfire landscape in California has gotten dramatically worse. The County issued new guidelines and a new Climate Action Plan that specifically avoids development in Very High Fire Severity Zones. This project violates all of that.

The state Attorney General weighed in on similar projects, questioning the wisdom of placing more homes in the “wildland urban interface.” The AG also issued new guidelines. All of these things would negate the project. However, the County seems intent on moving forward.

Wildfires have become far more intense and frequent, and this year we’ve already crossed the million-acre mark. CalFire has even reclassified our entire area, including the proposed development, as a Very High Fire Severity Zone. It’s clear that our valley is in more danger than ever, and yet this project doesn’t account for those growing risks.

Our community has put together a wildfire evacuation plan, and it’s clear that any new development would need to incorporate it into their planning. But HGV South seems to completely ignore that. The fact that the County already rejected Lilac Hills Ranch in Valley Center because of inadequate evacuation routes should be telling. That project had multiple ways out—this one only has one.

We understand that housing is needed and our community has dutifully accepted a more than doubling of housing in our community via the HGV project which we all supported. We testified in support of that project because the County promised us that this would be our contribution and that that would be it. Now, in retrospect, it seems as if HGVS was already foreseen despite the promised to the contrary.

Please do the right thing and vote against this project. The risks are too high for all of us.

Sincerely,