City Blog Details Santee Council's Options on Castlerock Project

Note: Due to scheduling conflicts on September 25, and to ensure ample time for notifying the public, the Castlerock annexation item will be postponed to the October 9 City Council meeting.

The City of Santee posted a blog Wednesday that answers some the questions residents may have about the Castlerock housing development recently approved to be built north of West Hills High School. The Santee City Council will soon play a part in deciding if the new 1,000 resident community will become part of Santee or remain in San Diego.

Here are the main points of the blog:

• The city of Santee can't impose new conditions on the development now that it has been approved by the city of San Diego.
• The council can only decide whether to support annexing the property or not.
• In either scenario Santee firefighters and Sheriff's deputies would be first responders in case of emergencies at Castlerock, but the city will only recoup the costs of those services through taxes if the the properties are annexed. 
• If the council votes to annex Castlerock, then both the city and Padre Dam Water District would need to file an application with the Local Agency Formation Commission as the next step.