Prop. A heading to voters today

By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer | Tuesday, November 8, 2005 8:30 AM PST ∞

ENCINITAS ---- After hours of arguments, weeks of waiting, and thousands of dollars in campaign spending, Proposition A, the Paul Ecke Ranch land-use measure, and the future of one of the region's pioneering flower growers, heads to voters for judgment today.

Ongoing Coverage

Prop. A asks voters in an advisory vote that council members say they will respect whether the City Council should rezone 38 acres of Paul Ecke Ranch from agricultural to residential.

Paul Ecke III, who owns the property his grandfather purchased in 1923, says he must sell 38 acres of the 68-acre ranch to build 101 homes.

Selling the land on Saxony Road would raise money for modern greenhouses, which Ecke says he needs to remain in Encinitas. The family pioneered the development of the ubiquitous poinsettia that graces holidays tables worldwide.

The advisory vote will recommend to the City Council whether or not it should approve the rezoning and amend the city's general plan.

Win or lose at the polls, Prop. A requires a 4-1 or 5-0 City Council vote and approval from the state Coastal Commission to secure a zoning change.

Council members have said they would not overturn the voters' directive, however, and Ecke has said if Prop. A fails, he will withdraw his proposal.

Voters can make their statement from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 45 polling stations across Encinitas.

Residents can find their polling place by calling City Hall at (760) 633-2600 or by visiting www.sdvote.com.

The Web site, belonging to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, also will post election results beginning with an 8 p.m. tally of initial absentee ballots, said Deborah Cervone, city clerk.

Both sides engaged in last-minute campaigning on Monday.

A Yes on A spokesman said supporters were working the phones and a Prop. A opponent could be seen waving a sign Monday on the Leucadia Boulevard freeway crossing.

Supporters are expected to gather tonight at a private party on Paul Ecke Ranch to monitor election returns. The Yes on A campaign has played up the Ecke family's philanthropy and its contributions to Encinitas' floricultural heritage.

If the opposition has planned a place to meet, a leading opponents did not know about it on Monday.

Grower Gilbert Foerster predicted that he'd be in bed Tuesday night.

"It's not going to change anything whether or not I'm glued to a TV set biting my nails," he said.

Foerster, the Encinitas Taxpayers Association and other opponents say a vote for Prop. A is a vote for traffic.

They say Ecke should stand by a 1994 agreement to maintain the ranch forever as agricultural.

Ecke says he wants to renegotiate that deal with voters, and has offered these "benefits" in exchange for the rezoning:

- Eight acres of public parkland;

- Public hiking trails;

- Construction of traffic circulation improvements ---- Ecke has proposed a $1.5 million roadway, with three roundabouts, that links Quail Gardens Drive to Saxony Road;

- And the continuation of Ecke Ranch as an agricultural business in the city.

Ecke says he can consolidate flower-growing operations onto 20 acres. He has promised to give those acres to the city if he or his family quit using them for agriculture.

In a related matter, which Prop. A does not cover, Ecke has offered to trade property to the city for a public works yard.

Ecke and his company have contributed $187,000 toward the campaign.

Opponents have raised $14,000.

Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com.