In March 2003, Strawberry Hill Agriculture was Saved

But today, Strawberry Hill is at even greater risk.  

Here’s what happened to save it in 2003: In a landmark decision the Vista Unified School District voted unanimously not to pursue building a high school at Strawberry Hill. Strawberry Hill has been saved. The valuable agricultural business of the Kawano family has been saved. Lands and neighborhoods have been saved. The safety of our children has been saved. Our streets have been saved. We thank GuARD’s Committee to Save Strawberry Hill for their tireless efforts.  It has paid off.  Their critical work uncovered a state law requiring that two-thirds of school board members must approve any zone changes needed to construct a school.  GuARD members alerted the school board that they fell short of the necessary votes, thereby stopping the project.  The School Board is now pursuing sites near downtown Vista that would better serve our students as well as the community.

Exotica Nursery Saved

Once upon a time, a developer decided that it would be a good idea to replace the unique Exotica Nursery, with its exceptional collection of tropical trees (including rare fruit trees), with a Self Storage facility.  Yes, you read that correctly–destroy a special nursery in a semi-rural area and build self-store units.  GuARD was instrumental in protesting the plan, and the self-store development plan was defeated.  Exotica continues to provide trees and plants that can be found nowhere else in San Diego County.  For more information check out this link: Exotica Rare Fruit Farm.

Osborne Street Safety a Priority for GuARD

Osborne Street, between East Vista Way and North Santa Fe Drive, has always been a dangerous street, with many accidents, and also fatalities, over the years.  GuARD was established by the folks living in the Osborne/Hutchison/Mason area to take action to make their neighborhood safer.  

All-Way STOP signs installed at Osborne and Hutchison
After many years of effort, GuARD and other neighbors succeeded in persuading the County to install STOP signs on Osborne Street, so that the Osborne/Hutchison intersection is now an all-way STOP.  This is a key improvement in safety for the neighborhood.

Osborne Speed Limit Reduced
The speed limit was reduced to the current 35 miles per hour limit due to the efforts of GuARD.

New Striping painted on Osborne Street
The double yellow line, and the white lines on either side of Osborne were newly striped.  Also, new signage was added.  The “Marquez Court” sign was placed at the top of the hill to alert westbound drivers of that street at the bottom of the steep hill.

Osborne/Hutchison Intersection Made Safer
The Osborne/Hutchison Intersection was particularly dangerous, with poor visibility due to a number of factors including a hill very near the intersection.  Through the efforts of GuARD, modifications were made, including shaving the hill, to make the visibility much better and reduce accidents in and around that intersection.  More recently, the stop signs on Hutchison Street were improved with the additional “Cross Traffic Does Not Stop” signs to provide extra safety for those drivers attempting to turn onto Osborne.

7-Ton Restriction on Osborne Street
Another victory for GuARD in helping make the Osborne area safer was the restriction of trucks above 7 tons from Osborne Street.

Neighborhood Protected through Modifications to North Coast Church development
The City of Vista annexed a 40-acre parcel on the corner of North Santa Fe and Osborne Street in order to allow for a mega-church and school to be built.  Their neighbors in the Guajome area were concerned about traffic congestion and safety, particularly when they learned that the city was allowing much more density of development than was originally proposed.  GuARD filed a lawsuit to make the city and church developers accountable, which resulted in a settlement that scaled down the size of the project, improving traffic safety and making it more compatible with the surrounding semi-rural neighborhood.