Poway’s The Farm Inches Closer to Construction

10/21/2021

By C.H. Currier

Last November, voters in Poway approved Prop P by over 60%. Its passage allowed The Farm project to move forward on the defunct StoneRidge Country Club.  

The campaign for and against Prop P was heated to say the least. I won’t go into the details on what the completed project will look like, but you can go to thefarminpoway.com to see what it’s all about. I will disclose, I was a proponent of The Farm. I agreed with the Poway Fire Department that the old golf course, left as it was, could be a fire danger for North Poway.  

I talked with Mr. McNamara, the developer of the project, in October of 2021. I also took a stroll through the property to see what had changed in the last year. Here’s where the project stands as of now. 

The weeds have been mowed. Demolition of the roads, buildings, tennis courts, and pool are complete. 

Lennar Homes will be the builder. McNamara said they will have dedicated personal to handle questions, comments, and complaints once grading and construction begin. 

The butterfly farm is a go. It will be operated by the non-profit Butterfly Farms. It will include a butterfly vivarium, classes, tours and more. 

Restaurants and or breweries for the commercial area are still in negotiations.  

McNamara says most comments from the project’s neighbors have been about when will actual construction begin. He told me, “Very soon”. On Tuesday, Oct. 19, the City Council, approved the track map for the project, which moves the project closer to begin construction.  

I asked McNamara if any of the recent decisions in Sacramento having to do with ADUs would affect the homes to be built at the Farm. He said that no separate structures or additions could be built because of the way the homes are situated on their lots, but that there could be separate units within the house itself if an owner chose to build one. That’s out of the developer’s control anywhere in California. 

I walked the property. Current residents living on the old course are red tail hawks, wild turkeys, doves, coyotes, and gophers, lots of gophers. All the tall weeds were gone. It no longer felt like the fire danger that existed before the 2020 election.  

A hydro-seeding type cover mulch had been sprayed in areas that were disturbed by demolition to limit dust and erosion. That was probably required by the city but still a nice touch. A few local homeowners were scavenging rocks and brick-a-brac for their landscape projects.  

The further I walked into the property the less noise could be heard from Espola Road. Soon, all around me became very still. The silence was remarkable but also seemed like the quiet before the storm. 

Scott Currier is a thirty-year resident of Valle Verde, a retired horticulturist, and a published short story writer. Look for his upcoming novel, Where the Ashes Fell, in 2022.