The RSF Association, on its website says:
The exclusive, secure, rural character of the community…are what sets this community apart as being a highly desirable place to live….Preserving and maintaining the character of the community are of utmost importance….”
The Preamble to the Rancho Santa Fe Protective Covenant, dated January, 1928 states: “WHEREAS, these property owners are most desirous of preserving, continuing and maintaining this character of community…and restricting the use, height and bulk of buildings….”
If Silvergate were to be built, this would open the floodgates to potential commercial development of over 30 large Covenant properties, as well as several other properties that could be annexed.
The proposed Silvergate project consists of four parcels that total 28+ acre. Two of the parcels are in the Covenant and two are not in the Covenant. The zoning with the Association and the County in the area where the Silvergate properties are located is 2.86 net acres minimum. Most of the surrounding properties are well over 2 acres and several are 12 acres or more.
The County indicates the Silvergate properties are zoned SR-2, which is “Semi-Rural,” allowing for estate residential and intensive agriculture.
Other than “riding academies” there have never been any commercial developments in the zones outside of the center of town and the immediately adjoining areas.
The individuals who purchased properties in the vicinity of the proposed Silvergate, and indeed throughout the Covenant, had the expectation that their community would remain rural in nature in perpetuity.
Never in their wildest nightmare could the founders have envisioned a proposal such as Silvergate, encompassing 178 units and covering 476,329 sq. ft, the size of over 8 football fields, to say nothing of an additional 113,885 sq. ft. of underground parking.
The goal of the policy is to minimize light pollution and maintain the communities “dark sky” environment. 476,320 sq. feet will generate an unfathomable amount of light.
Very conservatively, 500 trips a day into and out of Silvergate would add immeasurable to the already extremely congested Via de la Valle near Calzada del Bosque. Except in the case of an emergency, there will be only one egress and ingress to Silvergate and that will be on Calzada del Bosque, only a matter of feet from Via de la Valle.
Residents, employees, delivery services, and visitors will result in a huge increase in traffic, to say nothing of noise, on Via de la Valle, Calzada del Bosque and many surrounding areas.
The intersection of Via de la Valle and Calzada del Bosque is already a very dangerous and noisy place. The danger and noise will increase dramatically if Silvergate is built.
Hodges Dam is rated "F," the worst possible safety rating. The dam is over 105 years old and was scheduled to be rebuilt. As of August 2025, the City of San Diego announced it was backing away from plans to build a new Hodges Dam, due to ballooning costs and other factors. The City of San Diego, Santa Fe Irrigation District and San Dieguito Water District, now have no plans to replace the existing one.
According to various governmental studies, very significant portions of the Silvergate property is designated wetlands; has the potential for liquification; is in FEMA and County flood designated areas, is rated as in a tributary to environmentally sensitive land; already has noise contour issues, within an urban-wildland interface zone and in a dam inundation zone.
Vonn Marie May, author of Images of Rancho Santa Fe, and author of the Cultural Amendment to Rancho Santa Fe California Landmark # 982 has stated: “If built, Silvergate would most likely result in the loss of the 2004 Cultural Landscape Amendment to the California State Historic Landmark # 982, which encompasses all 6,200 acres.”
We are against the development of the Silvergate Project. The approval of the project would be the beginning of the end of the Rancho Santa Fe Protective Covenant, which has been enjoyed by generations of Covenant owners.
Protect the Covenant
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