Opponents have said the survival of Paul Ecke Ranch shouldn't be the community's responsibility, and that more houses will mean more traffic on already overburdened streets.

Ecke's offer of road work, trails and land for parks aren't really benefits, opponents say, but requirements that any developer with a 101-home proposal would face.

The agreement was attached to the city's approval of the 853-acre Encinitas Ranch, which included housing, a commercial center, a golf course and the expansion of Leucadia Boulevard.

Why doesn't he open his company's books so that voters can understand his financial needs? Why should the community support housing on one of North County's remaining vestiges of agricultural land that is zoned expressly for that purpose? After all, as the No on A yard signs state, "A deal's a deal."

Ecke agrees, but adds that any deal can be renegotiated if both sides agree to do so. For that reason Ecke asked, and the City Council agreed, to place the land-use question to a vote.

However, Ecke said he has pumped at least $1 million a year into the ranch ---- for computer systems, new product lines and other equipment ---- since he bought the flower farm outright from his father and sisters in 1992.

Without disclosing numbers, Ecke said his share of the revenue from Encinitas Ranch was not extraordinary. And that money is all but spent, he said.

If voters approve the housing proposal, Ecke says, proceeds from the land sale would offset a $15 million investment to erect 400,000 square feet of production facilities.

The agricultural zoning on Ecke's land limits its value to sell or to offer as collateral as a loan, said Russ Valone, president of MarketPointe Realty Advisors, a San Diego firm that analyzes the real estate market.

"The value of ag land is generally significantly less than the value of land zoned for commercial or residential uses," Valone said. "If you are a lender and have to take the (agricultural) property back, that land has only one use."

If Prop. A opponents cling dearly to Encinitas' flower-growing heritage, Valone offered this observation: "The reality is, it's more profitable to grow houses than it is to grow flowers."

He added that land is the farmer's source of equity to secure loans. Banks will balk if improvements to a piece of land are worth more than the land itself, he said.

"The Ecke family has lived by every, single thing it has said it will do. My sense of integrity is worth a lot. I wouldn't put my integrity on the line."

This is cache, read story here