Letter to the editor

Citizens for a Rural Ramona are fighting the good fightI just finished reading the article about the solar farm in Ramona on Warnock. It was inThe Readerand pictured the Myers in pig T-shirts with the title “You cannot pet a solar farm.”The folks at CFARR (Citizens for a Rural Ramona) have been fighting the good fight for the rest of us and I want to thank them personally.Living in the Estates, Warnock/Dye is the major route into and out of my neighborhood. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that the county would allow industrial power plants in an agricultural area. I moved to Ramona to be in the country.It reminds me of the battle with SDG&E years ago regarding the 150-foot electric towers in the San Diego Country Estates. We had to fight this company so that they did not build these through the middle of our community. Thanks to so many who fought them, we won.The solar farm is the same issue. Wrong area for this. There are other areas in Ramona to build a power plant. And Sol Orchard knows this. They just want the easiest way possible, regardless of what it will do to the neighbors, to agricultural land and to the reputation of our town.But without any real zoning for solar (how convenient), the county can come back again and agree to other locations next to your farm, your vineyard, your home.So many are trying hard to build up the reputation of Ramona — as a destination resort. You would never see visible solar plants with 42 acres of roof line in Napa or Sonoma or Temecula. Then why here?We need everyone in the town to fight this.

Diane Chapman

Ramona