ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) -- Wednesday morning, more than 110,000 signatures were turned in in an effort to put a housing project in North County in front of voters.
The signatures were gathered by the “No on Newland Sierra” committee in 17 days. The signatures were turned in roughly a month after the County Board of Supervisors approved the project amid Southern California’s housing crisis.
The Newland Sierra project would bring more than 2,000 new and affordable homes north of Deer Springs Road and west of the 15 in Escondido.
RELATED STORIES: County approves North County housing development | Signature drive underway to delay Newland Sierra
Those against the project say it would create traffic. Those in favor say the state is in dire need of more affordable housing.
After the signatures were turned in, Rita Brandin, Vice President of Newland Communities sent 10News the following statement:
“We are not surprised that the East Coast billionaires of the Golden Door spa and their highly paid out-of-town signature gatherers turned in their petition this soon. The entire signature gathering process has made a travesty of truth and democracy. The East Coast billionaires of the Golden Door and their out-of-town signature gatherers fraudulently collected these signatures by telling falsehoods about our approved Newland Sierra plan, including the ridiculous claims that it would raise people’s taxes, that we are building a casino, and that the project encompasses 430,000 acres of land. With what they were claiming, we were even tempted to sign.”
