HOW DO HOUSING PROJECTS PASS?

Key difference seems to be if they are deemed smart growth or sprawl

On Election Day, Oceanside voters defeated a 585-home, farm-themed community proposed for South Morro Hills. On the same day, their neighbors on the Carlsbad City Council approved almost 300 homes in a mixed-use project called Marja Acres.

And one month earlier, the Carlsbad council unanimously approved a downtown project, Carlsbad Station, with 79 townhomes and ground-f loor retail stores in two four-story buildings that will cover most of a city block in a busy area near the Village train station.

Some projects sail through the approval process, while others don’t. The growing acceptance of a concept called “smart growth” seems to make the difference.

Development that places affordable homes, including space for lowincome families, near public transit and jobs is considered smart growth. State and local agencies encourage smart growth projects by offering financial incentives and other advantages. The opposite of smart growth is “urban sprawl” — building on raw land miles from urban centers, train stations and bus stops. It’s generally frowned upon by planners and environmentalists, and by residents who have to fight traffic on crowded streets anytime they go out.

“Sprawl is bad, bad for the climate, bad for transportation,” said Colin Parent, executive director of Circulate San Diego and a member of the La Mesa City Council. “But it’s also true that without more homes, we are going to continue to have a housing crisis.”

San Diego County cities are starting to say no to sprawl development, which is good, Parent said Thursday.

“But at the same time, the region needs to say yes to more examples of smart infill development,” he said.

The Marja Acres and Carlsbad Station projects both were called smart growth and were endorsed by

called smart growth and were endorsed by Circulate San Diego, a nonprofit that works to improve public transit, support sustainable growth and keep public streets safe. The nonprofit’s support was based on a review by an independent panel of experts.

“Marja Acres will help address the increased housing demand in Carlsbad and in a job-rich area,” said Angeli Calinog, a policy maker for Circulate San Diego, at Tuesday’s council meeting. “The project makes good use of an underused site.”

The 21-acre site is along the south side of El Camino Real about midway between Kelly Drive and Cannon Road. Parts of it include the venerable locals restaurant Bobby’s Hideaway Cafe, some small retail businesses and a palm tree nursery. Much of the property was a chicken and egg ranch in the 1950s.

The developer, Escondido-based New Urban West, has been working on the project for four years and has met more than 100 times with city planners and residents, said Jonathan Frankel, the company’s vice president of forward planning.

Marja Acres will include 248 market-rate townhomes, 46 apartments reserved for low-income seniors, and 10,000 square feet of commercial space.

The state gave the project what’s called a “density bonus,” which means the developer can build more homes on less ground because it includes low-income housing. Without the bonus, the maximum would be 224 homes on the property.

Density bonus projects also are allowed to waive or reduce city requirements such as setbacks and minimum sidewalk widths. The developer could sue the city if those concessions are not granted.

New Urban West also made a number of modifications in the Marja Acres plan at the request of nearby residents. The developer dropped a plan to buy an adjacent lot to create a pedestrian walkway into the nearby neighborhood. For privacy, the developer also agreed to eliminate upper floor decks from units that would look down onto existing homes, and to build a masonry, noise-blocking wall.

Several residents of the nearby Loma Laguna neighborhood said Tuesday they were pleased with the changes, but they still had concerns.

“Some of my neighbors and I still have concerns about the number of housing units and the traffic impacts on the El Camino Real,” resident Tracy Seemann told the City Council. She said she supports the project because of the efforts made so far to address residents’ issues, and that she hopes the city will continue to work with the developer on improvements.

Representatives of the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce strongly supported Marja Acres, as they did the Carlsbad Station project a month earlier.

Most of San Diego County faces a housing shortage, as the area’s population growth has outpaced home construction for years. Homes are hard to find, which increases housing costs and forces people to make long commutes that waste time and increase pollution.

Groups like Circulate San Diego urge cities to grow up, not out.

“Decision makers, whether city councils or voters, are increasingly skeptical of sprawl development,” said Parent.

Large projects such as the 2,135-home Newland Sierra master planned community proposed for near Escondido, which voters defeated in the March primary election, are widely viewed as urban sprawl. But big doesn’t always mean bad, Parent said.

Riverwalk, a massive Mission Valley project with 4,300 homes, received Circulate San Diego’s support, and two weeks ago the San Diego Planning Commission recommended approval.

“It’s best not to look at projects as large vs. small,” Parent said. “You’ve seen some pretty large projects approved in San Diego. Riverwalk and the Town and Country, those are very clearly transit-oriented, smart growth and infill.”

Opponents of the North River Farms project called it a sprawl project, though the developer, Integral Communities said it was not.

Integral’s $2 million Yes on Measure L campaign emphasized a focus on agriculture, with community gardens and an organic working farm on the property. The developer also agreed to widen the two-lane road accessing the site, improve nearby intersections and to help pay for schools and a new fire station. But opponents of the project focused on all the new homes and the traffic they would bring.

Oceanside’s planning department and its appointed Planning Commission opposed the North River Farms project, but the City Council majority, emphasizing the need for homes and tax revenue, approved it on a 3-2 vote. Residents gathered enough signatures to place a referendum on the ballot that overturned the council’s decision.

“With projects that are far from where people work ... there’s nothing practical they can do to reduce sprawl characteristics,” Parent said. “Sometimes they will be real creative to make them appear more green ... but when you look at those things they are just window dressing.”

Oceanside has other projects in the pipeline that could help their housing situation.

Encinitas-based Zephyr Partners filed plans with the city in 2019 to build up to 700 homes, a 300-room hotel, retail stores and more on 92 acres that includes the former site of a drive-in theater and swap meet along Mission Avenue in the San Luis Rey Valley. The plan includes an artificial “wave lagoon” for surfing, along with facilities for rock climbing, mountain biking and other outdoor activities.

More likely to satisfy the state’s requirements for affordable housing is a plan discussed in October by the North County Transit District board of directors.