SAN DIEGO -- Members of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians have raised concerns that their culturally significant artifacts could be disturbed by proposed additions to Ivey Ranch Park in Oceanside.

The park, across Mission Avenue from the San Luis Rey Mission, is a "point of first contact" between Native Americans and settlers, and a significant area to all indigenous people, said Mel Vernon, captain of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians.

"Not that long ago this land and the surrounding land were our villages," Vernon told the city's Historic Preservation Advisory Commission last week.

Members of the tribe still think of the land as their home, he said, and, "We ask that you be mindful of the indigenous people of this place."

The nonprofit requesting the expansion, the Ivey Ranch Park Association, wants to add more classrooms, restrooms and an office to the 135-year-old farmhouse, also to enlarge a hay barn added in 2016. Its equestrian program provides therapeutic riding lessons for about 200 children and adults.

After hearing the concerns, the commission unanimously recommended the Oceanside City Council approve a permit for the project, but added that the city should have a tribal representative inspect the area before issuing the permit. The council will consider the request later this year.

The ranch house was built in 1889 facing the San Luis Rey Mission at what is now the southeast corner of Mission Avenue and Rancho Del Oro Drive.

Spanish and Luiseno artifacts connected to the mission have been found over the years on the property. Tribal members usually don't reveal such discoveries to prevent the sites from being plundered by collectors.

"Various archaeological excavations have located an adobe wall that surrounded the Mission gardens," states a report by Carmen Zepeda-Herman, a senior archaeologist for RECON Environmental. "Subsurface artifacts including adobe tile, prehistoric and historic ceramics, glass fragments, bone, shell, concrete, asphalt, and metal as well as modern high density fiber board and plastic."

Zepeda-Herman inspected the surface of the project area for the applicant July 19 and found no evidence of stone tools or other artifacts. She noted in her report that the site has been highly disturbed by recent activities and there was "a low potential for intact cultural deposits."

Tribal representatives disagreed with that Tuesday, and said important material may remain.

The proposed expansion will require excavations that are likely to uncover or disturb long-buried items, said Cammie Mojado, also a representative of the San Luis Rey Band.

"This area tells so much history," Mojado said. "Just because there is nothing seen on the ground doesn't mean there is nothing under the ground. There is history in this ground."

A tribal monitor should have participated in the recent inspection, she said. Also, she asked for a monitor to be present during any grading or digging for the foundations of the addition.

A study in 1992 concluded that "the site contains important information on European impact on the Luiseno, maybe the last example of its kind, possesses stratigraphic integrity, and is over 100 years old."

California's Environmental Quality Act requires that cultural artifacts such as tools, pottery or human remains be protected in place unless some other disposition is reached with the consent of the indigenous people connected to the artifacts. In most cases, construction must be halted until an agreement is reached on the best way to handle preservation.

Archeological discoveries temporarily stopped work on an $11 million project to widen a section of El Camino Real in northern Carlsbad in 2015. City officials and tribal members declined to disclose details about the find, and the widening resumed within weeks once the matter was resolved.

Artifacts have been found at Ivey Ranch Park before, said Oceanside City Planner Sergio Madera. Some were preserved in place and covered by a parking lot.

The building has been modified extensively over the years, and so it is not eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. However, the proposed expansion needs a historic permit from the City Council because of the age of the ranch house.

Oceanside acquired the 20-acre Ivey Ranch property at the corner of Mission Avenue and Rancho Del Oro Drive in 1981 and developed the site with an emphasis on helping people with disabilities.

In addition to the equestrian program, the park has a training center for Canine Companions for Independence that provides assistance dogs for people with disabilities.

Ivey Ranch Park also has day-care programs for adults and children, and a community garden that rents plots for $300 annually. The park and its amenities are available to program participants only.

---------

©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.