County Supervisor Greg Cox, who oversees the South Bay in the first supervisorial district, has a list of things he wants to accomplish before he is termed-out of office in 2020.
Among them is handing the Otay Landfill at 1700 Maxwell Road to the city of Chula Vista for potential annexation.
The idea fits into the supervisor’s plan of ridding islands of land that are surrounded by incorporated cities. In 2017, the city of San Diego annexed a 120-acre island in southeast San Diego as part of the Greenwood Memorial Park Island Reorganization.
The Otay Landfill, owned by trash hauler Republic Services and under the county’s jurisdiction, is a 409-acre parcel in the middle of Chula Vista’s District 3, the southeastern portion of the city that is represented by Councilman Steve Padilla.
Formal steps have yet to be taken for annexation, but Cox said he has already had an initial discussion with Chula Vista officials and Republic Services.
“It’s very preliminary,” Cox said about the process. “At this point, nothing’s been done.”
He said the California Legislature has recognized that unincorporated islands create inefficiencies in the delivery of municipal services, support incompatible land use planning, and increase jurisdictional confusion and costs in the local delivery of services.
Chula Vista City Manager Gary Halbert said he’s had a conversation with Cox about the potential annexation of the Otay Landfill.
Halbert said he does not know what the city’s official position would be in acquiring the land, but that the city should “certainly consider it.”
Padilla said Cox briefly mentioned that he would like to discuss the potential annexation with him at a later time.
Padilla said he would have to examine the proposal in detail before deciding if he would be for an annexation.
Chula Vista already owns 54 acres on the west end of the landfill, which is in the county’s jurisdiction.
An annexation would put the 54 acres the city owns within city boundaries, which Halbert said could be a positive for the city.
As it is now, if the city wanted to develop those 54 acres or have it for public use, the city would need approval from the county, even if the city owns that land.
But with an annexation, Halbert said, the city would no longer need the county’s approval for whatever it chooses to do with the land.
Halbert said the city would need to study whether acquiring the entire landfill will be a good move for Chula Vista.
“That’s going to take some additional analysis,” he said. “To see what are the pros and cons of doing this.”
Bonita and Sunnyside seem for like an island…the county landfill is more like a reef.