SAN MARCOS —— For some area residents, enjoying the stunning views promised by a home nestled into greenery high up on a San Marcos mountain has been a dream decades in the making.

But while the city considers how to handle future ridgeline development, that dream is on hold.

The City Council voted Tuesday to extend a temporary ban on ridgeline development through January, at which time a permanent law is expected to be put in place.

"It sounds like they're trying to take our property and leave us with no view," said George Gallagher, an 84-year-old retiree and mountain property owner, in a phone interview Thursday.

The 45-year Escondido resident said he and his family bought a 12.25-acre parcel in the San Marcos Mountains 18 years ago. Some parts of the land are as much as 1,200 feet above sea level, he said.

Gallagher said he wants to build a one- or two-story home, no larger than 3,500 square feet, where his daughter and her husband would retire.

If it were up to him, Gallagher said, they would be getting ready to build their "dream home."

But it's not entirely up to Gallagher.

Citywide ban

In January, the City Council approved a 45-day ban on ridgeline development, after months of public outcry sparked by grading along the 1,500-foot-high Cerro de las Posas ridgeline. This week the council extended the moratorium until January 2006.

Residents have said scraping off the top of San Marcos' rolling green mountains mars the aesthetic appeal of the city's scenic backdrop.

The Cerro de las Posas grading last year was in preparation for 28 homes, a water tank and a park access road planned for the 3,466-home San Elijo Hills community. That project, approved in 1997 by the council, is exempt from the temporary ban, as is all development that previously received the city's OK.

The moratorium will remain in place until a 10-member task force drafts a permanent law that defines ridgelines and governs their development is approved by the City Council. City officials have said that ordinance will go to the Planning Commission in October and the council in December.

On Tuesday, four property owners attended the council's meeting to protest the ban after the city sent letters to property owners who would be affected.

Desire to build

For some property owners who want to submit building and grading plans to the city immediately, that timeline is problematic.

Steve O'Brien said he lives with his wife and two sons in a two-bedroom apartment near City Hall, where he can look up at his 2.75-acre parcel in the San Marcos Mountains. It's there that O'Brien said he wants to build a one-story, 2,500-square-foot home.

"This is where I want (my family) to have memories," O'Brien said, adding that he's "moved heaven and earth to get the financing in place."

O'Brien, who installs shutters and window blinds, said his lot is two parcels east of Gallagher's. O'Brien said their planned houses will not be among a string of tract homes that would require the lopping of ridgelines, but would be small, single-family homes on multi-acre plots.

"It's not going to be an eyesore," O'Brien said.

Across the valley, where many residents of this bustling city of 70,000 live and work, Dennis Ward owns a 3-acre parcel about 100 feet below a towering ridgeline.

Ward's land, which is bisected by a paved private road, is covered with a thick, lush layer of native brush and trees and looks down on the Discovery Hills neighborhood more than 1,000 feet below. Several parcels near Ward's boast occupied homes.

Ward said Thursday that he wants to build a one-story house, no larger than 2,500 square feet, on the land he bought 20 years ago.

Though the Carlsbad carpenter said he's talked to an architect, San Marcos' moratorium prevents him from even submitting building plans to the city.

Middle ground

Balancing the rights of property owners with the hopes of many residents that ridgelines will be preserved is a tough but important job of the task force, said Randy Walton, a San Elijo Hills resident and task force member.

"People have a right to use their land, but it's not an absolute right," Walton said.

Ridgeline aesthetics might be preserved by requiring that earth-colored materials are used to build homes, instead of pink stucco and shiny metal, said task force member Jay Petrek, who works in the city of Escondido's Planning Department.

Other possible restrictions might include limiting homes to one-story or requiring that they be built on parts of the lot that aren't as visible from much of San Marcos, Petrek said.

The city or a private group could also preserve mountaintop land by purchasing it, Petrek and Walton said.

City Manager Rick Gittings said it's unlikely that the city will buy the land of ridgeline property owners. But San Marcos might consider asking the city's voters to approve a bond that would pay for that purchase, he said.

Regardless of how ridgelines are preserved, or to what extent development is restricted, officials emphasized that the rights of property owners would not be usurped.

"If they have a legal lot of record, they are entitled to a building permit," Petrek said.

If push comes to shove, Ward and Gallagher said they'd be willing to sell their land for fair market value. O'Brien said he doesn't even want to think about that scenario.

"I'm just a guy that wants to build a house," he said. "I'm not trying to get away with anything."

The first task force meeting begins 6:30 p.m. March 17 in the Valley of Discovery Room at City Hall, 1 Civic Center Drive.

Contact staff writer Ben Frumin at (760) 761-4408 or bfrumin@nctimes.com.