The Coast News
VISTA, SAN MARCOS, ESCONDIDO
VOL. 11, N0. 10
May 10, 2024
County eyes Vista site for sober facility Green Oak Ranch plan could plug service gap By Laura Place
Guarniere on May 7 at the final workshop in a three-part series held by AES at the San Marcos Civic Center. Residents in the Eden Valley as well as neighboring communities of Harmony Grove and Elfin Forest are widely opposed to the project due to its proximity to hundreds of residential homes, fearing that the lithium-ion batteries could start a fire as well as cause disruptive noise, air pollution and other environmental problems. The closest home would
VISTA — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is looking to purchase the Green Oak Ranch property in Vista to create a proposed $280 million sober living and behavioral health treatment facility to fill a critical service gap in the region. Super v isors are eyeing an approximately 110-acre portion of Green Oak Ranch’s total 142 acres that was put up for sale almost a year after the passing of the land’s former owner, Arie de Jong, last April. The parcel for sale includes a sumSupervisor mer camp and retreat facility that Jim Desmond has hosted thousands of youth over the years, as well as an RV park and a residential men’s recovery program. Last week, the Board of Supervisors directed interim Chief Administrative Officer Sarah Aghassi to begin negotiations with the owners of Green Oak Ranch with a $300,000 earnest deposit for the estimated $12 million purchase. Supervisor Jim Desmond, whose district includes most of North County, said the land just south of state Route 78 is an oasis
TURN TO BATTERY ON 7
TURN TO SOBER ON 15
CRUISIN’ GRAND, the largest weekly car cruise west of the Mississippi River, kicked off its 24th season last week and will rev up downtown Escondido every Friday night through Sept. 27. STORY ON 10. Photo by Samantha Nelson
Battery project foes persist By Samantha Nelson
BUILDING FUTURES
Darius Jones, a senior in the construction pathway program at San Pasqual High School, was one of several students who helped raise the walls on their tiny modular home that will provide shelter for homeless veterans. STORY ON 7. Photo by Rita Alatorre
REGION — Nearby residents who remain opposed to a proposed large battery storage project in the Eden Valley community near Escondido seek to spread the word about how the greater region could be impacted if a catastrophic failure were to happen at the facility. AES Corporation, a global energy company focused on developing green energy solutions, has proposed a battery energy storage system (BESS) facility known as the Seguro Energy Storage project on a 22-acre
former horse reining arena at 925 Country Club Drive. The 320-megawatt project would store enough energy generated through renewable sources like solar and wind to power 240,000 homes for four hours. The battery storage facility would connect to the local power grid via a new substation onsite that would then connect to the nearby 30,000-kilowatt SDG&E Escondido Substation through an underground transmission line. “We’re 100% committed to going underground,” said lead project developer Max
Celebrate Vista’s Annual
Strawberry Festival Join us for a family fun day and enjoy our ‘Celebration of the Berry’ with hundreds of vendors, great food, 5K and kids’ runs, entertainment, contests & kids play zone
www.vistastrawberryfest.com
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. May 26th, 2024 in Downtown Vista
“We need sites for healing ... to free up our hospital beds.”