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This website for the community of Palomar Park, California is presented and maintained by the members of Palomar Property Owners - a non-profit corporation of residents and property owners in Palomar Park CA since 1956. Palomar Park is an unincorporated neighborhood in the County of San Mateo, California. The Palomar Park Maps page shows maps of Palomar Park and has a direct link to Google maps of the area if you need driving directions.

Palomar Park is a community of 300 households with many of us living 'on the hill' in the portion of Palomar Park which remains rural in character - including roads abandoned by the County and maintained by the residents. We even had to paint our own fire hydrants recently! Residents on the hill feel a sense of community here where new homeowners can share in the rich heritage of Palomar Park's past history. We get together regularly for annual picnics, road clean ups, repair and maintenance of our unique wooden signs and mailboxes and to work together on a variety of projects.

Current News / Events:

PALOMAR PARK OWLS - OWL BOXES FOR PALOMAR PARK

Palomar Park Owl in Box

Palomar Park is home to lots of wild-life. Both welcome and unwelcome critters abound. Of the many varieties of birds who make Palomar Park their home, hawks and owls are some of the most beneficial as they help to keep our population of unwanted rodents in check (as do the coyotes, of course). One of the smaller owls which lives and hunts in Palomar Park is the Western Screech Owl. These feisty little owls hunt everything from insects, snakes and lizards, to those pesky Norway rats which like to munch on car ignition wires and anything else that they know the human owner wants un-munched. As these owls are just big enough to eat these pests, but not so large as to eat our dogs and cats, they are the perfect fit for Palomar and the more we can invite to live with us the better! Recent success in getting some of these owls to nest in owl boxes placed in outer Palomar, has given us reason to want to organize an owl box drive for Palomar. If you have an interest in having owl box(es) on your Palomar Park property, drop an email to palomarnews (at) gmail.com or a note to 419 Palomar Drive (PPO mailbox). We'll collect materials costs in advance (about $20 per box most likely), and get all the materials cut for your boxes. Then, this Spring (2012) we'll be having an 'owl box assembly party' for residents to assemble their boxes with food and refreshments as a Palomar Park work party. See Palomar Park Owls page for details.

SUDDEN OAK DEATH (SOD) - Community Based Sudden Oak Death Prevention for Palomar Park

We are managing a community wide response to help prevent the spread of Sudden Oak Death in Palomar Park. Email palomarnews(at)gmail.com or send a note to PPO at 419 Palomar Drive if you are interested in participating. We have arranged a special rate with a local arborist for treatment of trees as part of SOD prevention. You do not need to be a PPO member to participate in the special program. If you have not treated your oaks yet, the first treatment should be this fall before the winter rainy season - so please contact us soon!

You may want to view some of the Sudden Oak Death Mortality Task Force Videos available online including videos about Sudden Oak Death generally and a full 1.5 hr video of a SOD treatment clinic held at Berkeley a few years ago (see below). If you want to participate in this year's clinics (free to attend) register with Berkeley at the following link: SUDDEN OAK DEATH TREATMENT WORKSHOPS. The workshop is hosted by Dr. Matteo Garbelotto, UCCE Specialist in Forest Pathology and Mycology at UC Berkeley who has done much of the research on Sudden Oak Death for many years.

Included on the video page is the following video specifically discussing Agri-Fos spray and injection treatments as prevention measures to stop SOD. Specifically discussed are the methods of treatment, the types of oaks impacted, timing and frequency of treatments, and how SOD is spread. See: Sudden Oak Death Spray Training. October 20, 2007, San Mateo County Mounted Patrol. Dr. Matteo Garbelotto, UC Berkeley Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory (approx. 1.5 hours). The main website has the most up to date information for 2011 and beyond. It will help you understand how the treatment works and why (by stimulating the oak tree to respond naturally to fight of the SOD pathogen).

Sudden Oak Death is already killing oak trees pretty much on every side of Palomar Park and will inevitably be reaching us in the next few years if it is not here already. We have a window of opportunity to start treating our oaks to help keep them safe from Sudden Oak Death. This is a treatment program that must start BEFORE the trees are exposed to Sudden Oak Death as it works by promoting the trees own natural defenses against the disease rather than killing the fungus after the tree is already exposed. The best time for the first treatment for trees not yet treated (quite a few residents are already treating their trees) will be this fall followed by a second treatment in the spring of 2012 and then annually in the fall each year as long as Sudden Oak Death remains a threat.

The more residents participate the better we'll be able to defend against the disease. The disease spreads from one infected host to another, so if we can as a community address this problem we have a good chance of saving many of our oaks including possibly trees that are not treated if we can save enough trees to keep the disease really in check (that would be the ideal situation, as we know there are likely more trees than we can reasonably treat in the entire Palomar Park region).

If you want further information or are interested in the program, please email palomarnews(at)gmail.com or send a note to PPO at 419 Palomar Drive.

You do NOT need to be a PPO member to participate, nor does your expression of interest oblige you to participate.

Help SOD research through the UC Berkeley SOD research program

Palomar Park residents may wish to participate in the UC Berkeley SOD research program. You can help out the UC Berkeley scientists studying SOD and at the same time learn what trees in your area are infected or disease free. UC Berkeley runs education programs and a series of 'Sudden Oak Death Blitzes' which allow the public to collect and send to UC Berkeley samples from trees to be diagnosed for SOD by culture and PCR analysis. You first attend an education program in the morning, and then go out and sample trees and record their locations with GPS data and return all to the researchers. UC Berkeley will then analyze the tree samples and add them to their database (also available to the public). You can help out research and get data on trees you suspect are infected. Follow this link to the UC Berkeley Sudden Oak Death Blitz. 

Check out the pictures from the 2011 block party style picnic: the 2011 Picnic

The 2011 picnic was a great success and we plan to repeat the same next year!

Details on the 2011 Picnic 

Download the PPO letter about proposed filling and development in Edgewood (Hermosa) Canyon: development in Edgewood Canyon

Download a PDF file of the recent PPO letter on the proposed filling and development of Edgewood Canyon. This is the as yet undeveloped canyon into which Hermosa road extends. Even if you feel that you may not be directly impacted by development in this part of Palomar Park, you may benefit from reading the letter to learn more about building code requirements and development limits in Palomar Park.

New! Download a PDF Palomar Fact sheet formatted for printing at the PALOMAR PARK DOWNLOAD page!

Download a PDF file formatted for printing (or viewing on your computer) which has a history of Palomar, and many details about Palomar Park in a format designed for printing - for those of you who want a hard copy of Palomar Facts and information.

New! Download a PDF Palomar Park vendor list at the PALOMAR PARK DOWNLOAD page!

Whenever someone recommends a vendor (from builders and gardeners to animal hospitals), we add them to 'Vendor List' of companies or service providers with whom someone in Palomar Park has had a good experience. The list can give you a starting point for your own searches.

COMING 2011 - NEW GARBAGE AND RECYCLING SERVICES

Starting January 2011 garbage and recycling pickup both together will be on a weekly basis rather than recycling only every two weeks. We'll have more details when the date of service change is closer. You can download the garbage company mailer as a PDF from the PALOMAR PARK DOWNLOADS PAGE if you missed receiving it by mail.

2010 Name Sign Repair Project done (final work 2011)

Name Sign Repair Project 2010

Palomar Park Road Conditions: Slurry Coat Follow Up
July 2010 The new slurry coat after water main work on South Palomar has been completed. While, unfortunately, there was damage to the road surface from vehicles driving on it before it had set, it is a great improvement over the bungled job of the previous contractor on South Palomar from the Y up to Cervantes.

Palomar Park Fire Safety
We hope to have a representative from the fire service to present their current Palomar Park evacuation plan at the upcoming general meeting. We continue to work with the fire service to put in place the proposed evacuation plan through the several emergency exit gates out of Palomar. The idea expressed by the fire service is that ultimately a plan will be in place which will enable them to clearly direct Palomar Park residents to the best and safest exit in case of a fire emergency, while the fire crews enter Palomar Park from the most effective entrance (or gate) to fight any fire most efficiently.

Cell Tower Update
Mar 1010 Renewed efforts by Verizon to install more cell towers are likely or in progress. This is a problem that the deep pocketed carriers will not let drop, hoping to simply wear down the community. Should Sprint and Verizon get their systems installed, there are other companies queued up to follow. Information will be given as more news is gathered.

On September 15, 2009 the Board of Supervisors voted to deny the renewal permit for Sprint’s cellular site at 1175 Palomar Dr. We were able to show that the evidence Sprint provided only shows alternative sites that would not work instead of providing real options for the county to consider. This was highlighted when we showed that other carriers are providing coverage to the same area in less impactful ways.

This will most likely go back to the courts for the county to fight so we will need to wait to see what the court decides. Our understanding is that while it is in the courts, Sprint will be able to continue to operate at 1175 Palomar Dr.

Thanks go out to everyone that wrote, called, or came to the meeting in support of our community. Expressing your opinion made a tremendous difference with the Supervisors.

Palomar Park Historic Records Digitized
We have had all of the records of Palomar Park recorded as a digital archive. There is lots of material which we'll be spending 2010 reviewing and trying to sort so that we can make a coherent record available at the web site. Many historically interesting documents were scanned and we'll be bringing the best out to enhance the history pages about Palomar Park.

Palomar Improvemnt
Ongoing Name Plaque Repairs in Palomar Park - We'll be posting information on 2010 schedule for work - UPDATED [June 6]

Some fun and informative areas of this website:

Summer Fire season came early in 2009. There were many fires in Southern California early in 2009. Palomar Park because of its high amount of vegetation is working with the CDF to make response to fire as quick and efficient as possible. Please review the Palomar Park California Fire Evactuation Plan prepared by the CDF for Palomar Park.

See the Palomar Park Fire Evacuation Plan page for details and a pictorial map of evacuation routes.