Urban Reserve Land Swap Passing by a Wide Margin

A measure allowing the City of San Diego to trade 166 acres of industrial property to a developer for a greater amount of parkland in lush Los Penasquitos Canyon passed easily Tuesday.

The measure, Proposition D, was endorsed by environmentalists and developers alike and represents the first test of the managed-growth initiative approved by voters in 1985.

Proposition D requires the city to give Genstar Southwest Development Co., one of San Diego’s largest developers, 166 acres of public land east of Interstate 5 near Interstate 805 in Sorrento Valley. The property is on the edge of the 2,530-acre Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve and adjacent to an industrial park owned by Genstar.

In return, the company has agreed to give the city 291 acres it owns that are deep within the preserve and near a scenic waterfall. The company also will pay nearly $1 million--the difference in value of the two parcels--that will be earmarked for maintenance of the preserve.

The transaction requires a public vote because the city parcel lies within San Diego’s 50,000-acre urban reserve, an area off limits to construction until 1995. Proposition A, the grass-roots growth-management measure approved by voters last year, requires public endorsement of any changes in the urban reserve. Proposition D also removes 12 adjacent, privately owned acres from the urban reserve, for use by Genstar.

Los Penasquitos Preserve is one of the last remaining untouched coastal canyons in Southern California. The land swap was supported by the Sierra Club, the Friends of Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve and San Diegans for Managed Growth, the group that sponsored Proposition A.