THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012
Inside Special Section
Best of Ramona Readers Choice
VOL. 126, ISSUE 36
50¢
Commission approves solar project permit Planning group may appeal By JOE NAIMAN
C
ounty planning commissioners approved a major use permit for the Sol Orchard solar energy project planned for a farm in the 1600 block of Warnock Drive. The commission’s 6-1 vote on Oct. 19, with Leon
Brooks in opposition, can be appealed to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Ramona Community Planning Group (RCPG), which on two occasions this year unanimously recommended denial of the project, is contemplating an appeal. Three members of the group and several Ramona residents spoke against the project at the commission hearing.
Sol Orchard would utilize approximately 42.7 acres of the 110-acre farm that includes swine, oat hay, and grazing land. The swine and grazing land would remain while the photovoltaic panels would replace the oat hay area. The county commission included a 50-foot buffer zone between the screening area and the panels rather than the proposed 20-foot buffer. Sol Or-
chard and property owner Mark Bousema will decide whether to reduce the grazing land or to reduce the number of solar panels. The single-axis tracking photovoltaic solar panels would range in height at maximum tilt from 8 to 11-1/2 feet, depending on terrain. Most of the panels would be 8 feet high at maximum tilt. The panels would be aligned in rows that rotate to face the east
in the morning and the west in the afternoon. The panels would have a production capacity of 7.5 megawatts. Energy from the site would be delivered to an existing 12 kilovolt distribution line that runs parallel to Warnock Drive. Bousema will lease the land 25 years. Bousema would be required to designate a 10See SOLAR, page 2
Coming Home Night Everyone’s welcome
By PIXIE SULSER
Index
Presorted Standard US Postage PAID Ramona CA Permit No 136
Our Town.....................5 Opinion..................6-7 Candidate Profiles........9 Obituaries...............9 Real Estate Showcase..13 Sports.....................17 Classifieds.................18 Featured Businesses...25
Fall in Ramona brings a slight temperature drop in the mornings, a coolness to the evenings, Friday night high school football games, and Ramona High School Homecoming festivities. Oct. 22 through the 27th mark this year’s Homecoming Week. The community is invited to Coming Home Night on Thursday, Oct. 25, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Ramona High School staff parking
See COMING HOME, page 12
Halloween Happenings
District 77 California State Assemblyman Purple town Brian W. Jones will join Organizers Ramona Chamberof of the 2012 Commerce for Relay the RaLife paintSafe monaforMerchants’ townfrom with4 to Trick the or Treat purple ribbons 6 p.m. on Halloween.
for the 24-hour
425-A 10th Street Ramona, CA 92065
lot. Party Rental World in Poway, the company supplying the carnival-like rides, is owned by 1996 RHS alum Holly Whittlesey, and the photo booth is provided by the Photo Time Photo Booth Company, owned by 2006 alum Brittney Perdew. The evening’s activities will include a dunk tank, a trampoline jump, a merry-go-round, Mind Winder, an inflatable slide, and a mechanical bull.
Costumed trick-ortreaters will fill Main Street sidewalks from Third to Ramona streets Oct. 31 for the annual candy and fun fest sponsored by the See HALLOWEEN , page 2
Sentinel photo/Regina Elling
Helping Hands volunteers David Keyser and Carole Wylie from First Congregational Church unload a truck packed with supplies for a project assisting an elderly couple living in a mobile home. For more, see page 15.