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Plans for sod-farm land spark residents' concern
Topics: Stallion Springs, CSD, Cummings Valley, annexation, sod farm, agriculture
Posted by editor Wed Aug 22, 2007 13:43:05 PDT
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0 responses 1 comment On Tuesday Aug. 21, the board of directors of the Stallion Springs Community Services District heard from concerned residents about plans to develop land used for sod farming. About 250 people lined the aisles and perimeter of the district's multipurpose room.

The discussion will be taken up again Oct. 6.

Jo Anne Huckins had asked the board to look at a resolution ending consideration of annexing sod-farm land into Stallion Springs. She's a member of the Cummings Valley Protective Association, which wants to see the area's rural way of life preserved.

But attorney Phillip Hall of the Law Offices of Young Wooldridge said the resolution was outside the service district's authority.

Hall said residents were asking board members to put the cart before the horse by voting on a resolution about annexation Tuesday. To stop an annexation, written findings would need to be adopted by the board, Hall said.

"Those findings need to be supported by substantial evidence that the request to terminate the annexation is justified by the district's inability to provide services to the annexing territory and/or the annexation territory's inability to finance those services," Hall said.

Other speakers said the board members needed more information about the proposed development to make informed decisions.

County Supervisor Don Maben has previously said he wouldn't support development in Cummings Valley without annexation to neighboring Stallion Springs. And if the district decides to annex the land, farmers would have to seek development approvals from the county Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors and Local Agency Formation Commission.

But protective association members do not want to see approximately 1,100 acres owned by two sod companies become single and multifamily housing and commercial development.

An adjacent property owner has about 300 acres that may also be used for the proposed development.

Sod farmer Dick Considine says his building plans are preliminary. Come Oct. 6, he will present more information about his proposed plans for The Meadows at Cummings Valley to the community.

"All I'm asking for is an opportunity for you to see what I'm going to do," he told the crowd. "You can decide if you like it or you hate it."

He owns Superior Sod and grows sod on about 800 acres in Cummings Valley.

Considine and the owners of Tehachapi's Pacific Sod, Richard and Beth Rogers, are considering getting out of the sod business because rising water and transportation costs have made their farming less profitable.

Huckins said what Considine told the assembled crowd is similar to what he's been saying for two years.

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Comment From: William

Who is the attorney Phillip Hall representing? The article does not tell you and this needs to be disclosed. He is obviously advocating a position for someone's interest, rather than just giving free legal advice. The Board can pass a resolution on any issue it wants to without a study. That is, unless of course, the Board's hands are in the pocket of the developer and it is in their own personal financial interest to allow the destruction of the beautiful rural environment of the Cummings Valley at the cost of their own community, Stallion Springs. This is a big story. The development of Cummings Valley has the potential to reshape the Tehachapi area forever. The newspaper needs to take a leadership role and do some investigative reporting. We might just find out who has received money from whom and even uncover some political corruption. This may explain why people take the positions that they take or even why they avoid taking a position.