[quote]Do you have any idea why SD had 4S on their “general plan” in 2000 and/or how 4S ultimately ended up outside the City’s “sphere of influence?”[/quote]

I don’t know the details, but I found one pdf in the net that claims that 4S was within the city SOI, but its developers successfully went through the LAFCO process to take it out. When, why, or how that happened, I can’t say, but there’s a list of all proposals on the LAFCO web site going back to 2000, and it’s not there. So it had to have happened before 2000. It stays on the general plan with the reasoning that maybe the residents will want back and then San Diego will annex. To quote:

“4S Ranch and East Otay Mesa (EOM) are identified as prospective annexations areas since they would create logical and contiguous extensions of the City given their relative location and reliance on City infrastructure for access to nearby freeways and facilities, and would provide for opportunities for cost-efficient delivery of urban services. The City does not have specific plans to annex these areas at this time. However, property owners within these areas have the ability to initiate such a process.”