What a joke! The Eagle Ranch development wants to meet the housing needs of Atascadero by promoting a tired design plan. There’s no SMART growth here, nor implementation of county or Local Agency Formation Commission policies, only urban sprawl with trails.

Atascadero has a huge inventory of existing, buildable, vacant property. With a slow absorption rate, the city has plenty of lots to last well beyond the 20-year planning horizon.  No wonder the Smiths don’t want to sell off their existing lots of record piecemeal, they’d be selling lots for 100 years.

Again, we hear the same lame excuse that a 6,500-acre ranch is unable to sustain an agricultural enterprise, so it must be urbanized. Once land is converted, there is no chance to regain or establish any future agricultural use. Clever ranch owners, utilizing modern methods, could surely make this ranch viable. They tried vineyards in the 1920s but it didn’t work! Now, we have public relations meetings with their slick design firm to convince the community this project is in everyone’s best interests.

So, Smiths, if you are unable, inept or unwilling to pursue agriculture on your ranch, don’t expect the community to be duped into tossing you a lifeline.