Andrew Hayes, a representative from Supervisor Anderson’s office, heard from constituents at the town hall, that also included members of the Boulevard and Jacumba community planning groups and other community leaders.
Residents and regional groups in the east desert communities dread the impact of the growing number of industrial solar, battery, and wind turbine projects in the Mountain Empire region, saying it disrupts their way of life, harms wildlife and nature, creates visual blight, and perhaps most importantly, increases fire danger.
Boulevard resident Thomas Wall, left, speaks to the audience at an April 15 Town Hall about their concerns. Photo by Karen Pearlman
If it passes through County vetting, Starlight Solar will join the JVR Energy Park, a 90 Megawatt solar and 70 megawatt battery storage project in Jacumba Hot Springs. The Starlight Project includes photovoltaic solar arrays capable of generating up to 100 megawatts of alternating current electricity and a 217.4 MW battery energy storage system, to be constructed in two phases.
The JVR project, scheduled to be operational by fall 2026, the project aims to power over 57,000 homes. with a 435-acre biological open space easement and a new fire station included in the design.
The Starlight site, south of Old Highway 80 and north of the international border, is less than a mile from Clover Flat Elementary School, near key evacuation routes, and encompasses land that is home to sensitive species. The land is owned by the Haagen Company.
Some green energy projects already built in East County and adjacent Imperial County have posed threats to residents, including wind turbines bursting into flames and sparking fires, multi-ton blades hurled off, chemical leaks, stray voltage, noise and visual blight.
Former Boulevard Community Planning Group Chair Donna Tisdale described the region as an “energy sacrifice zone” after the county approved numerous massive wind and solar projects across the rural southeastern part of the county. Tisdale moved out of the state, after unsuccessfully fighting to oppose projects approved by the County, including a large wind project next to her ranch.
One resident at the Town Hall meeting lamented the lack of solar panels over parking structures in the county, offering that San Diego Gas & Electric makes more money building these large industrial energy sites and then transporting the power long distances, including to Los Angeles.
Another resident wanted to know how much of the power generated in the backcountry was going to locals, and if it would lower their electric rates, which are some of the highest per kilowatt hour in the County.
Previously, Jim Whalen, the land use consultant hired to lobby the County for the project, has said that Starlight Solar’s proposal does not include a community benefit fund for Boulevard. Whalen said that Haagen would refurbish Boulevard’s Backcountry Resource Center.
When asked if the County and the solar developers were to offer a “community benefit” package that actually addressed the trash, a park and restrooms, if that would change how people feel about the project, Wall said that “it would at least feel better, rather than these projects only taking from the community.”
Osbourne said the piecemealing of the region is deeply troubling as well as against the law and that he felt “we’re turning into a sacrifice zone.”
“None of us are planners, or engineers, or biologists…the county just facilitates this. “Experts who know the process are gaming it.”
He said that Whalen has 18 projects and said “he literally is here to destroy this community with these big projects… The county needs to do more to represent this community against these experts… There is no way to level the playing field.”
Hayes urged residents to participate and submit comments as Starlight Solar goes through the process. He indicated that he would speak with the County’s Planning and Development Services Department to state, “This is what the community wants. What are you doing about it?”
Harris and others are working together collectively to send a message to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors that Boulevard, Campo, Potrero and other locales are not part of a “dead desert, but in fact a precious ecosystem filled with valuable families, unique artisans, rare plants and animals,” she said.
Harris and several other locals have been working hard to create the Backcountry Resource Center on Ribbonwood Road next to the main fire station, and are working toward a park in the back of the center.
Local businessowner Dennis Berglund has applied for a grant to bring the center’s kitchen up to compliance so locals can serve food as well as build a new outdoor patio area.
Berglund said that the Backcountry center was a vision of the late Mark Ostrander and his wife, Lorrie, and that he is confident that the community will step up and see it all through.
“Mark and Lorrie bought this building from the county,” Berglund said. “The community owns this building. This (where the meeting was held) was the firetruck bay. He made it into a community meeting room — 2,000 people can meet here! There’s a community room out back and another room will be used by artists.”
An art show was held before the meeting, displaying creations by local artists and crafts people in the new Boulevard Community Resource Center.
Artwork by Linda Churchhill, photo by Miriam Raftery (right) on display in new Boulevard Community Resource Center.
Hayes offered to return hold a county-led grant-writing workshop in Boulevard to help the community members fulfill their visions for the new resource center, such as creating a backcountry visitors’ center to highlight the attractions in this beautiful but often overlooked area in San Diego’s East County.