PRSRT STD ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE PAID SAN DIEGO, CA PERMIT NO. 835
The
BOXHOLDER
THE RANCHO SANTA FE NEWS
.com
VOL. 15, N0. 17
SERVING NORTH COUNTY SINCE 1987
AUG. 16, 2019
New guidelines for wildfire protection By Lexy Brodt
BEST DRESSED GOES TO ‘WOOFSTOCK’ A 14-year-old Yorkie named Bailey won first place in the Best Dressed competition during the 14th Annual Cardiff Dog Days of Summer at Encinitas Community Park on Aug. 11. The free event offered on-site adoptions from rescue groups and included a host of dog-related vendors and attractions. Photo by Abraham Jewett
RANCHO SANTA FE — With loose vegetation and weeds raising concerns about fire hazards, the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District is urging residents to stay on top of a newly tweaked set of defensible space guidelines. Defensible spaces around a home help prevent or ward off flames in an area particularly prone to sudden wildfires. When it comes to maintaining these spaces, the district is particularly weary of trees that have been dying off and subsequently becoming fuel sources. “We have our hands full this year when it comes to vegetation management,” District Fire Prevention Specialist and Forester Conor Lenehan said at an Aug. 8 Rancho Santa Fe Association board meeting. “Eucalyptus trees are a big concern for us this year … the trees are looking as bad as I’ve ever seen them.” The Rancho Santa Fe Association is responsi-
ble for taking care of dead trees and other vegetation in the county right-of-way through the Community Services District, according to Caitlin Kreutz, the association’s Parks & Recreation assistant manager. But because 95% of the area’s forest is on private property, there’s only so much the association can do to prevent fire hazards. The district is urging residents to mind their property — cutting down dead trees and stray palm fronds, and keeping grasses and weeds below 6 inches in height, for example. At the meeting, Kreutz advised that homeowners get rid of their red gum eucalyptus trees, which have become a favorite snack of the lerp psyllid insect. The pest’s defoliation of the trees can cause them to weaken and eventually die, becoming fuel for fire. “It could take 10 years for the tree to die, but it’s still a very big risk in terms TURN TO WILDFIRE ON 10
Association OKs pickleball membership By Lexy Brodt
RANCHO SANTA FE — Pickleball is finding its niche in Rancho Santa Fe. The Rancho Santa Fe Association board unanimously approved the long-awaited Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club’s new pickleball membership at its Aug. 8 meeting. The membership will allow covenant residents to participate regularly in what some have called one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S. Pickleball is a paddle-
ball sport that looks a whole lot like tennis, but on a much smaller court and with players using solid paddles. The club has had a pickleball program in addition to its tennis program for the last four years, and has seven pickleball courts structured within two of its tennis courts. Pickleball players in the covenant currently have the option to either have a private lesson, attend the club’s Saturday clinics,
pay the non-member fee or play as a guest of a tennis club member up to 12 times per year. But now, the club is hoping to step up its commitment to the sport. “The time has come, everybody in our local tennis world has a pickleball membership and we would like to have one,” Tennis Club President Courtney LeBeau said.
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TURN TO PICKLEBALL ON 10
PICKLEBALL, one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, is similar to tennis but played on a much smaller court. Stock photo
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