On Feb. 22 the Rancho Santa Fe Association Covenant Club Design Subcommittee unveiled the first updated numbers about the proposed pool and fitness facility. The estimated cost for the club is $15.8 million, higher than the $10.9 million estimated by a 2014 community-wide vote.
Association board member and chair of the subcommittee, Jerry Yahr stated that the numbers came in higher than projected in soft costs for items such as county processing and construction management. Yahr and committee were up against a crowd of many vocal adversaries of the project. They were worried about the project’s size, cost and the entire process.
RSF Association Manager Bill Overton stated that a notice of the meeting was sent via email to 1,700 email addresses and was posted on the bulletin board as well as the website. “Theres no intent to hide anything, these are the largest attended meetings we have other than the occasional board meeting or town hall meeting on a controversial topic… We’re doing everything we can to get the word out to the most number of people possible,” Overton said.
One adversary questioned why the vote was for a pool and workout facility when the plan has grown into a city of buildings, a kids’ club, a steam room, a restaurant, and a grand staircase.
“You’re building what people haven’t asked for. You’re moving along like we’re going to outdo The Bridges. We’re not The Bridges,” stated the adversary.
Overton assured the public there will be story polls and the community will be involved in every step, through future meetings, as well as the final vote on the project.
“From the beginning the hope was this project would be self sustaining. We on the board and on the committee are anxious to get the vote done and get a resolution but given this larger-than-expected number we all have a lot of work to do,” said RSF Association President Ann Boon.
Boon is looking for an opportunity to thank Yahr for his unbelievable amount of hours as a volunteer leading the committee. “Its been a long process to now and I think it’s going to be a bigger process ahead of us.”