ENCINITAS —— Encinitas voters will go to the polls Tuesday to consider Proposition A, the hotly contested ballot measure that asks whether the City Council should rezone 38 acres of Paul Ecke Ranch from agricultural to residential.

From 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., at 45 polling stations across Encinitas, voters will respond to that local question and to others posed by statewide initiatives on the special-election ballot.

The background: Paul Ecke III says he must sell 38 acres of the 68-acre ranch on Saxony Road to build 101 homes.

Selling the land would raise money for modern greenhouses. Without them, Ecke says, the 80-year-old headquarters of the family-owned business would be forced to close.

He and his company have pumped $187,000 into a campaign that has offered parkland, trails and roadwork and has played up his family's floricultural and philanthropic legacy.

Opponents have raised $14,000.

Technically, the election means nothing, because the result is only a recommendation to the City Council. No matter which side prevails, the council must authorize any rezoning of Ecke Ranch by a 4-1 or 5-0 vote. Council members, however, have said they would not overturn the voters' directive.

A zoning change also would require the state Coastal Commission's approval.

Months ago, the City Council authorized Prop. A for an advisory vote. The measure identifies these "benefits" Ecke would offer 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.

A long legacy

Supporters say voters should consider more than the sweeteners contained in Prop. A. The Ecke's legacy and civic contributions have left indelible imprints on Encinitas, they say, as permanent as the poinsettia that appears on the city's seal.

Three generations of Eckes have supported the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA and Magdalena Ecke Nature Preserve —— both named after Paul Ecke III's grandmother.

The Eckes have sponsored more than 400 sports and academic teams, have funded scholarships, and have supported Quail Botanical Gardens, San Dieguito Heritage Museum, Community Resource Center and Scripps Hospital.

The family recently donated $10,000 to Paul Ecke-Central School for computer equipment, and an oversized check is displayed above the school's front door.

Earlier this week, however, banners saluting the family's gifts were removed from some Encinitas schools after opponents said the banners showed veiled support of Prop. A.

Leading the Yes on A campaign is a political consulting firm from San Diego, Tom Shepard and Associates, ranch chairman Chris Calkins and campaign committee chairman Bill Berrier, retired superintendent of the San Dieguito Union High School District.

The Encinitas Firefighters Association and Deputy Sheriff's Association of San Diego County have endorsed the measure, and elected leaders past and present have leant their name to the Yes on A campaign.

Of traffic and promises

The opposing camp also includes notable names.

Former City Council members Sheila Cameron and Gail Hano have rallied alongside the Encinitas Taxpayers Association, grower Gilbert Foerster and Jim Kydd, publisher of the Coast News, in opposing the measure.

Opponents say Ecke's financial gains and the survival of his business should not come at the cost of more traffic on city streets.

How can voters make an informed choice, opponents ask, when an environmental impact report examining the consequences of the planned housing, and its traffic, is far from complete?

Bob Bonde and Bill Rodewald of the taxpayers association have rejected assertions that housing would boost city revenues. They say providing services for the new residents would cost more than the households would contribute to the city in taxes.

Opponents' central sticking point, though, ties to a 1994 agreement in which the Eckes promised to keep the 68-acre ranch as agricultural in perpetuity.

The Eckes signed the agreement as they secured approvals to develop the 853-acre Encinitas Ranch, which includes housing, a commercial center, a golf course and improvements to Leucadia Boulevard.

The development represented a major liquidation of the family's holdings in Encinitas, which date to 1923.

Over the years, Paul Ecke Jr. mastered growing the poinsettia in greenhouses, which required less land. Also, the Eckes opened a major production facility in Guatemala.

In Encinitas, the remainder of the once vast Paul Ecke Ranch covers 68 sloping acres east of Saxony Road.

Greenhouses of corrugated fiberglass and plastic and an open-air poinsettia field are visible from the roadside and offer reminders of old-fashioned growing techniques.

A horse pasture with white corral fencing provides a rustic departure from the steady whoosh of traffic on Saxony and the heavily populated, master-planned subdivision just west of the ranch's main driveway.

The agricultural property should remain agricultural, as promised, opponents say.

Ecke says any deal can be, and should be, renegotiated if both sides realize a positive gain.

Opponents ask why the profits of Encinitas Ranch didn't pay to modernize the flower-growing business.

Ecke says his share of the money went right back into the farm, which he bought outright from his father and sisters in 1992.

Opponents remain skeptical. They ask how can the world's largest poinsettia breeder —— a business that produces more than 100 million young plants a year —— need to sell property for capital? Why can't Ecke just get a loan? And why has he declined to show his company's financial records as evidence of his need?

Ecke says the low-cost demands of big-box stores, expired patents on horticultural processes, skyrocketing energy and water costs and the fickle nature of the cut-throat flower business are driving his need for capital.

Banks consider agriculture a risky investment and interest rates can eat up profits, he says. There isn't a single floricultural company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Ecke says he'd love to see the financial records of his competitors, and they would love to see his, and that's why he keeps them private.

Big news

Coverage of Prop. A, and its implications for the family that domesticated the poinsettia, has stretched from local newspapers to the campus of San Diego State University to the hallowed halls of Wall Street.

The Wall Street Journal ran a B-1 story Wednesday about the election.

Public broadcasting radio and television stations based at San Diego State have produced features and interviews covering the issue.

An Encinitas Chamber of Commerce newsletter reinvented itself as a tabloid just in time to fill many pages with content favoring the measure.

The weekly Coast News stands in firm opposition to the measure. Kydd, the publisher, reported spending $9,166 for ad space and posters to defeat it.

The editorial pages of two daily newspapers, the North County Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, have endorsed Prop. A.

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