Ramona Residents Consider Suing County

Citizens for a Rural Ramona claims the Board of Supervisors' approval of a solar farm in their city is illegal

A group of people in Ramon are considering suing San Diego County to stop a solar farm from being built in the city.

The group Citizens for a Rural Ramona claims the Board of Supervisors' approval of a solar farm in their city is illegal.

The Sol Orchard project is supposed to be built at 1650 Warnock Rd. in Ramona. Plans are for a 43-acre farm with panels ranging from 8 to 11.5 feet, which will produce 7.5 megawatts of power.

The Ramona Community planning board unanimously rejected the project twice before it went to the board of supervisors. But earlier this month, the board rejected the appeals of Ramona residents granting a permit to Sol Orchard, saying the project will not significantly affect the area.

The County planning commission has also said the site is ideal for power generation being close to power distribution facilities.

The only dissenting vote on the board was from Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who represents the area.

Residents say Jacob’s protests laid the groundwork for them to continue fighting the project.

β€œIt's unsightly, it's an industrial application in an agricultural zone, so that means if anything goes wrong it, it's an industrial mess that has to cleaned up, if you can clean it up at all,” said Ken Brennecke with Citizens for a Rural Ramona.

Citizens for a Rural Ramona will meet Monday night to discuss the possible suit.

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