The Polo Club is located approximately 2.5 miles southeast of the Community of Bonsall in San Diego County.  The site is primarily located north of Gopher Canyon Road, between Vista Valley Drive and Ormsby Street.  Approximately nine acres of the site lies to the south of Gopher Canyon Road.  Unimproved Night Heron Road and other private dirt roads traverse the site, providing access to both Gopher Canyon Road to the South and Dentro de Lomas Road to the Northeast. 

The Vista Valley Country Club golf course and residential development is located immediately south of the site across Gopher Canyon Road.  Low density residential development and vacant land lie to the east and west of the site.  Many avocado groves are located on the surrounding hillsides, interspersed with vacant land.  The San Luis Rey Mushroom Farm is adjacent to the site to the Northwest.  Underdeveloped area to the North is listed as an agricultural preserve. The Northeast portion of the site is bordered by the San Luis Rey Downs Private Development Plan Area.  

The Polo Club site is characterized by steep, mostly underdeveloped, northwesterly trending ridges.  Elevations range from approximately 870 feet above mean sea level (MSL) in the Northeastern portion of the site to 300 feet above MSL in the riparian area in the Southwestern portion of the site.  Approximately 134 acres (30%) of the site is comprised of slopes in excess of 25 percent.  From the ridges, gentle slopes descend toward the central portion of the site.  Agricultural activities were present on these undulating slopes throughout the Northern half of the site.  Approximately 60 acres of the site was historically for agricultural use.   Two major drainages traverse the site.  One of these drainages flows into a 2-care pond in the Southern portion of the site.

Project Characteristics

The Polo Club will be a private guard-gated community, with lots for 156 single-family residences.  The minimum lot size will be 1.0 acre, located in the Northern half of the site.  The lots located near the riparian area and in the higher elevations in the Northern portion of the site will be larger in size (up to 20.2 acres) to preserve slopes and riparian habitat and give the subdivision a more rural appearance.  The existing 2-care pond in the Southern portion of the site will be retained as a visual and biological amenity.  Approximately 323 acres (73%) of the site will be retained as open space, of which, approximately 260 acres will be dedicated as biological open space (BOS). The BOS will be placed in a dedicated open space easement and maintained by the HOA along with remaining 63 acres of the open space.  Approximately 166.7 acres (35%) of the site will be graded in conjunction with on-site roadways, driveways and house pads, and required improvements to Gopher Canyon Road, resulting in approximately 293,100 cubic yards of balanced cut and fill.

The project was approved by the County of San Diego on Nov.3, 1993.  However, development of the project was not initiated after the issuance of the 404 permit due to the additional requirement for County-issued Habitat Loss Permit.  The 404 permit has since expired due to the extremely lengthy process to obtain approval from the county, state and federal resource agencies of a revised development footprint and the required updates to biological studies.  The project has since been revised to reduce the development footprint further to allow for maximum protection of large areas of natural open space in conjunction with the residential development.  Seller will deliver to buyer a new 404 permit at closing.  

The property is sold “As Is” in its currently unimproved condition. Any infrastructure improvements including grading of residential pads, construction of roads, bridges, and utilities, implementation of habitat restoration programs, and brush clearing for fire protection will be the responsibility of the new owner.