Keeping it Rural: Success Stories

Thanks to the dedication of countless neighbors over the past 40 years, our community has successfully preserved the rural character that makes Elfin Forest such a special place. Through persistence, collaboration, and a shared commitment to protecting our natural environment, residents have led numerous successful campaigns to conserve open space, safeguard wildlife habitat, and guide thoughtful growth.

The following highlights recognize some of these landmark efforts and pay tribute to the individuals and organizations whose leadership helped shaped the Elfin Forest we know today.

Restricting Heavy Truck Traffic

For many years, heavy truck traffic on Elfin Forest Road and Harmony Grove Road created congestion, hazardous driving conditions, excessive noise, and air pollution, diminishing both the safety and scenic character of the community.

Recognizing the growing problem, 2011 Citizen of the Year, Jeff Swenerton led an effort to persuade the County of San Diego to prohibit large trucks from using these two rural roadways. Through persistent advocacy and collaboration with County officials, the community succeeded in securing a ban on through truck traffic.

The restriction significantly improved traffic safety, reduced noise and emissions, and helped preserve the quiet, scenic drive that is one of Elfin Forest's defining characteristics. The campaign stands as another example of how dedicated residents have worked together to protect the community's rural quality of life.

The San Marcos Landfill

The San Marcos Landfill played a significant role in the history of Elfin Forest because it became the focus of one of the community's earliest and most successful environmental campaigns.

Beginning in the 1970s and continuing through the 1990s, Elfin Forest residents opposed repeated proposals to expand the County-operated landfill, which was located immediately north of the community. Neighbors raised concerns about increased truck traffic, odors, noise, groundwater contamination, air pollution, and the long-term environmental impacts on the rural community and surrounding habitat. Community organizations, including the Elfin Forest Coalition, challenged expansion plans through public hearings and legal actions.

The landfill was ultimately closed in the 1990s after years of community advocacy. Residents also defeated a proposal to construct a waste-to-energy incinerator near the site, believing it would have brought additional traffic, odors, and air pollution to Elfin Forest.

The campaign marked a turning point for the community. It demonstrated that organized citizen action could influence major land-use decisions and helped establish a tradition of environmental stewardship that later contributed to successful efforts to preserve Sage Hills, defeat the Bridges Unit 7 proposal, and protect other open-space properties.

Sage Hills Preserve

The developer who owned what is now the Sage Hills Preserve offered to donate the land to the Rancho Santa Fe School District, which was seeking a suitable site for a new school. According to opponents of the proposal, the developer's objective was to gain access to the sewer infrastructure that the school would have extended into the valley, making it possible to pursue higher-density residential development on adjacent property. After careful consideration, the School District declined the offer. Many members of the community remain grateful to Superintendent Lindy Delaney for rejecting what they viewed as a "poison pill"—an arrangement that would have facilitated development inconsistent with the community's vision for the area.

In 2009, the County of San Diego, in partnership with SANDAG and the State of California, purchased the 234-acre property formerly proposed as the Sage Hills development. The acquisition permanently preserved this important habitat conservation area.

The preserve encompasses the land north of Elfin Forest Road, extending from the area where the community parade begins eastward to the Altman property, nearly reaching San Elijo Hills. Its eastern boundary adjoins Questhaven Retreat and the Seedco farm and nursery. The purchase protected a significant wildlife corridor and open space that might otherwise have been developed.

Cielo Azul Conservation Victory

In 2010, the Elfin Forest Harmony Grove Town Council's Conservation Committee led the community effort to oppose the proposed Cielo Azul development at the northern edge of the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve. The project would have introduced access roads and homes along the ridgeline, significantly altering the natural landscape and scenic views surrounding the Reserve.

Following the community's successful opposition to the proposal, the approximately 100-acre property was acquired for permanent conservation through the efforts of The Escondido Creek Conservancy (TECC) and its partners. The acquisition protected valuable wildlife habitat, preserved the integrity of the Reserve's ridgeline, and ensured that this highly visible landscape would remain open space for future generations.

The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe

A proposed development known as Bridges Unit 7, which would have extended sewer service and enabled higher-density housing along Elfin Forest's southern boundary, was nearing County approval when 2010 Citizens of the Year, Jacqueline Arsivaud-Benjamin and Eric Anderson launched a determined campaign to stop it.

Their efforts first prevented the Bridges project from extending sewer infrastructure into Elfin Forest. They then helped organize a broad conservation initiative to protect the approximately 100-acre property, which contained some of the region's most pristine habitat for the federally threatened California gnatcatcher—a small bird whose distinctive call is often described as sounding like a "meow."

Jacqueline and Eric forged partnerships with the Los Angeles-based Endangered Habitats League, which brought together the Conservation Biology Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and other conservation organizations. Working collaboratively, these groups persuaded the developer to withdraw a development application that had been in progress for seven years.

In early 2008, Jacqueline and Eric founded Friends of the Creek, a nonprofit organization that became a driving force behind the preservation effort. The organization first filed a lawsuit challenging the County's approval process and the proposed development, underscoring the community's commitment to keeping sewer infrastructure out of Elfin Forest. Friends of the Creek then partnered with the Endangered Habitats Conservancy to negotiate the purchase and permanent protection of the property.

The effort culminated in the approval of a $6 million grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board—the largest grant awarded for a single habitat conservation project in San Diego County at that time. The acquisition was completed in September 2011 after five years of dedicated work. This landmark success became a catalyst for additional land conservation efforts throughout the Elfin Forest community, helping to preserve open space and wildlife habitat for future generations.