Boulevard Planning Group

BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP TO VOTE ON WIND TURBINE HEALTH STUDY AND SEXUAL PREDATOR PLACEMENT NOV. 1

 

By Miriam Raftery

View full agenda

View minutes from last meeting

View letter from Mark Wardlaw on wind health impacts study

October 30, 2018 (Boulevard) – The Boulevard Planning Group will meet Thursday, November 1st at 7 p.m. in the Backcountry Resource Center (39919 Ribbon Rd., Boulevard  behind the old fire station).  Action items include Chair Donna Tisdale’s request to respond to a letter from County Planning Department Director Mark Wardlaw in which Wardlaw advised that the County Health and Human Services Agency is preparing a report on human health effects of wind turbines.  The group will also vote on opposing placement of Alvin Quarles, a sexually violent predator, in Jacumba.


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ENERGY PROJECTS AND SEXUAL PREDATOR RELEASE ON BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP’S MARCH 1 AGENDA

 

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2018 (Boulevard) – The Boulevard Planning Group meets Thursday, March 1st at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room, 33919 Ribbonwood Road, Boulevard.  The board is expected to take action on proposed release of a sexually violent predator on McCain Valley Road.

The board will also receive updates and hold discussions on issues including Supervisors’ climate action plan, Tule Wind noise complaints, Protect Our Communities’ appeal challenging federal approval of Tule Wind phase II, and revival of two solar projects formerly proposed by Soitec. Rugged Solar has been taken over by Clean Focus and Tierra Del sol Solar has been taken over by Invenergy and renamed Boulevard Solar.


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SOLAR PROJECTS ON AGENDA FOR NEXT BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP MEETING NOV. 2

 

East County News Service

October 31, 2017 (Boulevard) – The November 2nd meeting of the Boulevard Planning Group wil include action items on Invenergy’s proposed 600 megawatt Boulevard Solar Energy Storage projects as well as Clean Focus’s 80 megawatt Rugged Solar project.  Items related to Tule Wind and the County’s Climate Action Plan are also on the agenda.


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BOULEVARD CONSIDERS IMPACTS OF FUTURE GREEN ENERGY PROJECTS, INCLUDING REVIVAL OF EX-SOITEC SOLAR SITES

 

Two proposed solar projects have been revived under new owners

By Paul Kruze

Photo: Map shows site of Boulevard Solar, one of the two former Soitec projects back in the planning pipeline.

September 22, 2017 (Boulevard) -- Boulevard, CA is a small rural community located about 50 miles east of downtown San Diego on Interstate 8,  nary half-an-hour to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park.  While residents – a mix of retired people and younger people who work in San Diego but want to experience rural living – are able to experience the best of both worlds, the stark realities of modern life do punctuate the overall quiet and serene quality of this hamlet.

This was apparent at the Sept. 7th meeting of the Boulevard Planning Group, where the dominant topic was the main threat to the area’s rural atmosphere – the development of alternative energy projects, including the revival of two former Soitec Solar projects now moving forward under new ownership.


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SUPERVISORS REJECT RENEWABLE ENERGY OVERLAY ZONE

 

By Miriam Raftery

February 18, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego Supervisors have rejected plans for a renewable energy overlay zone feasibility study, which would have cost an estimated half million dollars. The action came during a hearing on a Comprehensive Renewable Energy Plan.

Donna Tisdale, Chair of the Boulevard Planning Group and founder of Backcountry Against Dumps (BAD), voiced relief at the Supervisors’ rejection of the overlay zone.  “A renewable energy overlay zone would fast track any projects located within the designated boundaries. Based on some previous information, we had concerns that a renewable energy overlay zone would be placed over the Boulevard Planning Area and/or the Jacumba Planning Area,” she told ECM.


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BOULEVARD PLANNERS RAISE CONCERN OVER COUNTY’S CLIMATE ACTION AND RENEWABLE ENERGY PLANS, CITE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE DISPARITY

 

By Miriam Raftery

Photos:  Fire at wind turbine in Campo sparked brush fire; Eco Substation in Jacumba mars desert views

November 27, 2016 (San Diego) - The Boulevard Planning Group voted unanimously to send a letter to County officials voicing concerns that the County’s Climate Action Plan and Comprehensive Renewable Energy Plan will adversely impact the Boulevard/Jacumba area, where mostly low-income residents have already been “disproportionately targeted” for 31 major energy–related projects planned, approved or built in the past decade, according to a letter signed by BPG Chair Donna Tisdale.


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SOLAR COMPANY TO DISCUSS PROJECT AT BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP MEETING NOV. 3

 

East County News Service

October 31, 2016 (Boulevard) — The Boulevard Planning Group meets on Thursday  November 3 at 7 p.m.  Chair Donna Tisdale advises, “A new solar company will be providing some preliminary information on a new 2 megawatt Boulevard project during the public comment period. They chose not to be included as an action item on the agenda. They are proposing to be part of SDG&E's share the sun program:


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PARKS, WATER AND ENERGY ISSUES ON BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP'S AGENDA MARCH 3

 

By Miriam Raftery

February 27, 2016 (Boulevard) --The Boulevard Planning Group has a packed agenda for its meeting on Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room (39923 Ribbonwood Rd., Boulevard).  The agenda includes three action items and 14 discussion items ranging from major energy projects impacting the region to a water rate hike, parks and land use issues.

The action items include:

  • a county presentation on a proposal to divide the Mountain Empire Parkland Dedication area into 41 separate units,
  • a discussion and vote on whether to submit comments on local concerns over a new multli-agency renewable energy land ues and transmissions plan to meet state renewable energy mandates,and
  • a discussion and vote related to Live Oak Springs Water company's proposed rate hike and authorization for bulk water sales.

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WIND ENERGY COMPANY SUES TO BLOCK RELEASE OF BIRD DEATH DATA TO MEDIA

 

Photo: Hawk at Ocotillo wind farm; photo by Jim Pelley

By Miriam Raftery

December 16, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – A lawsuit filed by Pacificorp, a wind energy corporation, seeks an injunction to halt the Associated Press from obtaining reports filed by the company with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service documenting deaths of eagles and other protected bird species at its wind energy facilities. Pacificorp, which is owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, claims disclosure would cause “irreparable harm” to the company.


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BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP TO DISCUSS LAWSUIT, ENERGY ISSUES

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

The Boulevard Planning Group meets Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room, 39919 Ribbon Wood Road in Boulevard.  The rural planners will be discussing some hot issues, starting with disclosure of a lawsuit filed against the Planning Group, its Chair, the County and other parties over alleged loss of property values to Lansing Industries, which has been unsuccessful in its effort to develop its property as first a housing development and later, an industrial solar facility, amid large-scale community opposition.

Chair Donna Tisdale and two other incumbents won reelection to the Boulevard Planning Group unopposed.


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FULL AGENDA FOR BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP ON AUG. 7

By Miriam Raftery

July 28, 2014 (Boulevard) – The Boulevard Planning Group meets Thursday, August 7 at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training room, 39919 Ribbonwood Road in Boulevard.  Action items on the agenda include a faux water tower wireless communications facility near Golden Acorn, a presented by the County’s groundwater geologist, concerns over closure of the White Star fire station, and updates to a Park Lands Dedication Ordinance project priority list.

There will also be updates on numerous major projects proposed in the Boulevard area including Tule Wind, Soitec Solar, Rough Acres Ranch campground/conference center, a complaint against the Eco Substation, court actions challenging the county wind ordinance and Tule Wind, and Sempra’s cross-border high voltage transmission line.


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CORRECTED AGENDA FOR BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP APRIL3: LOSS OF LAND LINE PHONES CONCERNS RURAL RESIDENTS

 

AT&T  and FCC plan to eliminate landline phone service to be discussed, along with major energy projects and more

April 3, 2014 (Boulevard) -- An incorrect agenda was inadvertently sent to our media outlet for tonight’s Boulevard Planning Group.  The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the Boulevard Fire Training Room on 39919 Ribbonwood Road in Boulevard. 

The agenda will include possible actions regarding FCC and AT&T plans to eliminate landline phone service nationwide. ECM recently reported on grave problems experienced by some rural residents who switched from landlines to cellular, in one case resulting in a barn burning down because the resident could not reach 911.

Other agenda items include the following:


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BOULEVARD PLANNING GROUP TO DISCUSS DRAFT EIR FOR SOITEC SOLAR PROJECT

 

Photos:

Left--Soitec's project in Newberry Springs scraped bare the earth and emits glare, despite company claims to the contrary. 

Right--Shaded meadows with mature trees currently support a rich abundance of wildlife as well as grazing livestock. Soitec proposes to put over 8,000 panels on some 1,700 acres here in East County.

 

 

Residents have launched an online petition asking Supervisors to save their wildlife, water supplies, wild and scenic places. and put solar in urban environments instead. You can read the petition and sign it here.


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CROSS-BORDER POWERLINES APPROVED

 
By Miriam Raftery
 
June 10, 2012 (San Diego) – The San Diego Planning Commission on Friday approved the Energia Sierra Juarez Gen-Tie project, a power line that Sempra Energy plans to utilize to bring energy from a planned Mexico wind facility across the border to the U.S. That facility’s future is in limbo, however, since a Mexican court has agreed to hear a lawsuit challenging Energia Sierra Juarez. 

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EAST OF THE LINE: IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM, DENIGRATE ‘EM

 

Planners seek ouster of wind farm's project manager 

 

A column written for East County Magazine

 

By Billie Jo Jannen

April 16, 2011 (Boulevard)--The manager of Enel Green Power Jewel Valley made the claim that the Boulevard Planning Group scares her--and that she’s not going back without law enforcement protection.


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