HARMONY GROVE — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors has again approved the controversial Harmony Grove Village South housing project in an unincorporated area near Escondido and San Marcos.
The project, located on 111 acres south of Harmony Grove Village and near Elfin Forest and Eden Valley, will add 453 single-family and multifamily homes, 5,000 square feet of commercial and civic space, 34.8 acres of biological open space, 36 acres of common areas, four acres of parks, and two miles of trails.
Supervisors voted unanimously Oct. 1 to approve the project with added conditions, including requiring the future homeowners association to submit twice-yearly reports to the county on fuel management zones to ensure compliance with the fire protection plan.
The board also directed staff to further study the possible use of Johnston Road as a secondary access point.
County staff said the site is suitable for housing due to its proximity to public services. The location is about two miles west of Interstate 15 and more than two miles from state Route 78 and the Nordahl Sprinter Station. Officials estimate that the development will add approximately 137 students to Escondido schools, including Bernardo Elementary, Bear Valley Middle School, and San Pasqual High School.
This is the second time the board has approved the project. The first approval was granted in 2018, but a court later ruled that it violated the California Environmental Quality Act. A 2021 appellate decision upheld concerns over greenhouse gas mitigation but reversed findings on evacuation and air quality measures, deeming them adequate. The board rescinded its approval in 2022.
Since then, the developer has pledged to offset 100% of emissions with a local solar installation producing 1,720 kilowatts. The project now includes 10% affordable housing, split evenly between low- and moderate-income households.
Nearly 100 people spoke at the Oct. 1 meeting. Opponents, wearing red shirts reading “Don’t Burn Us,” said the fire protection plan is flawed. Supporters countered that the plan is comprehensive and emphasized the need for more housing in the region.
Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, whose district includes Harmony Grove, said she has received “thousands and thousands of comments on this item” from constituents.
“This is a huge issue for my community,” she said.
James McKim, a Harmony Grove resident and former deputy chief of the Elfin Forest/Harmony Grove Fire Department, recently outlined his concerns in an op-ed published by The Coast News, saying “the proposed Harmony Grove Village South project will create an extremely hazardous entrapment scenario.”
Opponents of the project, many of whom live in the vicinity, echoed concerns about potential fire risks.
“It’s not that we don’t want new neighbors – we’d love new neighbors – the problem is that this subdivision is the worst possible place in San Diego County that you could put it,” said Rick Bannister, who serves on the Harmony Grove Village HOA board.
Residents cited the area’s history of wildfires and its location in a very high fire hazard severity zone surrounded by flammable open space. They also raised concerns about the lack of a secondary access road, nearby developments such as the proposed Seguro Battery Energy Storage Project and Solaris Business Park, and the cumulative fire risk.
Residents recalled the 2014 Cocos Fire, which burned nearly 2,000 acres, destroyed more than 40 structures, and caused significant evacuation delays.
County staff, local and state fire officials, and the developer told the board the project meets fire code requirements and includes extensive mitigation measures. Eight options for secondary access were studied, including Johnston Road, but none were found feasible.
Instead, the plan calls for a new bridge over Escondido Creek with three travel lanes — two for evacuation and one for emergency vehicles — extending from Country Club Drive and Harmony Grove Road to the project’s entrance. Officials said this would meet fire code requirements in place of a second access road.
Other mitigation measures include exceeding required parking and water supply levels, expanding fuel modification zones, fire-resistant construction, and installing additional fire hydrants. Planned civic buildings will serve as emergency refuge centers with sprinklers, alarms, backup power, and emergency supplies.
“All the modifications that were presented for this project are what sets this up for success,” said Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District Chief Dave McQuead.
McQuead added that nearby road improvements — including extensions to Harmony Grove Village Parkway and Citracado Parkway — will improve evacuation times. The district and other agencies will also use Genasys Protect, a new evacuation alert system.
He noted the project’s design allows residents to shelter in place if needed. Evacuation routes will vary by community: Harmony Grove Village residents will head toward Escondido, while Elfin Forest residents will be directed toward San Elijo Hills.
Both the sheriff’s and fire departments reviewed the plan and deemed it adequate with the new bridge and lane configuration.
“We can’t fireproof an area but I think we can mitigate it to the best we can,” said Supervisor Jim Desmond, who supported the project after hearing from fire and sheriff personnel.
Officials said six organizations helped develop the fire protection plan. Michael Huff, senior director and vice president at Dudek, an Encinitas-based environmental and engineering firm involved in drafting the plan, called it “the most scrutinized, analyzed plan” in his 30-year career.
“Harmony Grove Village South is not Pacific Palisades, Altadena, or any other similar place with older, vulnerable structures, lack of maintained defensible space, or long, windy evacuation routes through wildlands,” Huff said. “Harmony Grove Village South is a fire-hardened, master planned community. It is inclusive of ignition resistant buildings and landscaping, and it is a short distance to urban Escondido.”
David Kovach, the project’s managing partner, told supervisors the fire plan “is the gold standard.”
JP Theberge, chair of the Harmony Grove/Elfin Forest Town Council and a project opponent, said that the development was initially viewed as a means to address the funding gap left by the original Harmony Grove Village project.
“They were required to build a firehouse nearby, but were not required to pay for the ongoing funding of it, so the funding of that fire station created an ongoing shortfall of approximately $2 million a year, every year starting around 2015,” Theberge said in an email to The Coast News. “So, HGVS was seen as a way to resolve that shortfall. It’s not clear what happened to that shortfall, but HGVS was clearly the mechanism to resolve it.”
Developers also made a voluntary donation of $850,000 to the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District last year. Because the gift exceeded $500, it required a vote by the board. After residents raised concerns and submitted letters, the item was pulled from the agenda, and no vote was taken.
