Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Escondido residents mobilize to try and save golf course

Petition drive aims to gather 6000 signatures

Don Yerkes, Jim Ahler, Diane Yerkes, Olga Diaz, Julia Diaz
Don Yerkes, Jim Ahler, Diane Yerkes, Olga Diaz, Julia Diaz

Saturday mornings were usually quiet affairs at the Escondido home of Gary Johnson, board member of Escondido Country Club Homeowners Organization. However, Saturday morning, May 11, was different.

At 9:00 a.m., about 200 Escondido Country Club area residents–turned–community activists gathered at the Johnson residence to kick off the next phase of the battle to save Escondido Country Club’s golf course from being developed into houses and condos.

The activist/volunteers were there to organize a petition drive to gather at least 6000 Escondido voters' signatures. The intent is to prompt a city council measure or ballot measure that would restrict the use of Escondido Country Club property to either green space, golf course, or both. Many volunteers will knock on doors throughout the community; others will set up petition sites at local intersections and in front of businesses.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Homeowners organization board member Jim Ahler said that although they have six months to gather the necessary 6000 signatures to create a ballot measure, he thinks they could reach that goal in two to three months.

“All these people showed up to save their neighborhood," said Ahler. "This is fantastic. Here we are under the First Amendment, assembling, speaking our mind, and then going out to meet members of the community and participate in direct democracy. It’s an awesome responsibility and a great opportunity.”

Escondido City Council member Olga Diaz was on hand and spoke to the group. “I’m really here to be nosy. I needed to see this for myself. I’m always excited when people notice that they have rights and that they can speak their minds. It makes me proud to see civic activism.”

To address the role of the city council in this turf war, Diaz stated, “You know the city doesn’t own the property. Many members of the city council have been distant because we really don’t know how to intervene. We’re waiting for some direction, some clear opportunity to be fair to everybody involved.”

Concerning the country club area and the general plan, Diaz said, “There’s a lot of very complicated material involved with property, with ownership, the general plan. I can tell you quite honestly we didn’t discuss this part of town as part of the last general plan review because in everybody’s mind this area was already built out. So, you’re forcing us to double back.”

Stuck in the Rough, LLC, a Beverly Hills–based corporation, purchased Escondido Country Club out of bankruptcy in December 2012. Although they have not yet made any applications to the City of Escondido, their publicly declared intention is to develop the country-club acreage into a housing development.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

2024’s Best Bitcoin & Crypto Casinos – Play BTC Casino Games Online

Best Bitcoin Casinos (2024): Top 10 Crypto Casino Sites for BIG Payouts
Don Yerkes, Jim Ahler, Diane Yerkes, Olga Diaz, Julia Diaz
Don Yerkes, Jim Ahler, Diane Yerkes, Olga Diaz, Julia Diaz

Saturday mornings were usually quiet affairs at the Escondido home of Gary Johnson, board member of Escondido Country Club Homeowners Organization. However, Saturday morning, May 11, was different.

At 9:00 a.m., about 200 Escondido Country Club area residents–turned–community activists gathered at the Johnson residence to kick off the next phase of the battle to save Escondido Country Club’s golf course from being developed into houses and condos.

The activist/volunteers were there to organize a petition drive to gather at least 6000 Escondido voters' signatures. The intent is to prompt a city council measure or ballot measure that would restrict the use of Escondido Country Club property to either green space, golf course, or both. Many volunteers will knock on doors throughout the community; others will set up petition sites at local intersections and in front of businesses.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Homeowners organization board member Jim Ahler said that although they have six months to gather the necessary 6000 signatures to create a ballot measure, he thinks they could reach that goal in two to three months.

“All these people showed up to save their neighborhood," said Ahler. "This is fantastic. Here we are under the First Amendment, assembling, speaking our mind, and then going out to meet members of the community and participate in direct democracy. It’s an awesome responsibility and a great opportunity.”

Escondido City Council member Olga Diaz was on hand and spoke to the group. “I’m really here to be nosy. I needed to see this for myself. I’m always excited when people notice that they have rights and that they can speak their minds. It makes me proud to see civic activism.”

To address the role of the city council in this turf war, Diaz stated, “You know the city doesn’t own the property. Many members of the city council have been distant because we really don’t know how to intervene. We’re waiting for some direction, some clear opportunity to be fair to everybody involved.”

Concerning the country club area and the general plan, Diaz said, “There’s a lot of very complicated material involved with property, with ownership, the general plan. I can tell you quite honestly we didn’t discuss this part of town as part of the last general plan review because in everybody’s mind this area was already built out. So, you’re forcing us to double back.”

Stuck in the Rough, LLC, a Beverly Hills–based corporation, purchased Escondido Country Club out of bankruptcy in December 2012. Although they have not yet made any applications to the City of Escondido, their publicly declared intention is to develop the country-club acreage into a housing development.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.