Nearly two dozen residential development projects throughout the county are facing a dead end, and many more could meet the same fate, because the county's Planning and Land Use Department has started to strictly enforce emergency access road requirements in the wake of the 2003 and 2007 wildfires.

One of those projects belongs to Ron Powell of San Diego, who on Friday said that he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and six years trying to subdivide a 5-acre property in Boulevard.

But his proposal has not been approved because he doesn't have a proper secondary access to the property, Powell said.

His project, like those of others facing the same problem, is on a dead-end road, which means there is only one way in or out for firefighters and residents during an emergency.

State and county regulations require that developers have a fire-protection plan.

As part of that plan, a second way in and out of the property may be required for developments on dead-end roads, officials say.

Powell said it would be nearly impossible to create a secondary access route for his land because the only other way out is by using a private road, which would mean getting permission from his neighbors who own that road.

That would be difficult because the neighbors don't want the additional traffic, he said.

Jeff Murphy, the county's deputy director of planning and land use, said the requirement is a matter of safety.

"The intent of the requirement is that residents and emergency responders are able to safely evacuate from and respond to wildfires," Murphy said.

Murphy told the county Planning Commission on Friday that projects may appear before the panel in the coming weeks with a recommendation that they be denied.

County officials are reviewing about 200 applications that could be facing the issue, he said.

Thus far, 20 cases have been flagged and referred to a newly formed panel of fire officials for review.

The advisory panel has met once and reviewed 13 projects, finding possible solutions for five, Murphy said.

Before the 2003 fires, the county planning department didn't rigidly require two ways out of a subdivision.

After the devastation, the county planners reconsidered that practice and found it unsafe, county officials said.

"The secondary access has always been an issue," Murphy said. But "it was as a result of the 2003 and 2007 wildfires that we're taking a closer look at this issue."

But some developers say the county's emphasis on secondary access roads may have swung too far.

Developer Richard Packard said he and his partners have been working to get approval from the county for a development.

"Our project went through the process," Packard said. "All the biological and environmental surveys that were required, mountains of it. Millions of dollars were spent."

Packard was among about a dozen developers who spoke at the Planning Commission meeting. Some said the county's actions amounted to "late hits" or last-minute requirements that can sometimes derail projects.

"You shouldn't be putting people in the position of spending lots of money and then telling them the rules have changed at the last minute. That's not fair. That is not appropriate," Packard said.

County officials said after the meeting that they do not consider the secondary access road requirements "late hits," but that they are reviewing individual complaints on the matter.

"We don't think these are largely true late hits," Murphy said. "We informed them of these issues and worked with them to find solutions."

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.